Stardust Accelerator: Rise of the Earthbounds
by Fenikkusumaru
Summary: Kurogasa Kururugi has finally recovered his memories. But now danger strikes as the Dark Signers have begun their assault. Can Kurogasa and the Signers stop their plan from consuming the world in darkness? Read and find out! OC x Akiza.
1. DUEL MONSTER DECK DATABASE

Hey guys, this is going to be my first Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's story and is going to be based on the Stardust Accelerator Game. But before I start the story, I am going to tell you that I will be going to use some of the 1st season Bakugan as cards and some of the ability cards like diagonal relations abilities, triple node abilities, and a gate card or two, stuff like that. And the rest, I'll use normal cards and you can look up the effects on Yu-Gi-Oh Wikia. So, here's my deck.

**DUEL MONSTER DECK DATABASE**

Monsters

Haos Falconeer  
Level: 4  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Winged-Beast  
ATK/DEF: 1600/1400

Haos Hynoid  
Level: 4  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Beast  
ATK/DEF: 1300/1000

Haos Juggernoid  
Level: 4  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Reptile  
ATK/DEF: 1000/2000

Haos Ravenoid  
Level: 4  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Winged-Beast  
ATK/DEF: 1500/1200

Haos Saurus  
Level: 4  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Dinosaur  
ATK/DEF: 1700/1500

Haos Siege  
Level: 4  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Warrior  
ATK/DEF: 1900/1400

Haos Griffin  
Level: 5  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Beast  
ATK/DEF: 1800/2000

Haos Fear Ripper  
Level: 5  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Fiend  
ATK/DEF: 1750/1550

Haos Tuskor  
Level: 5  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Beast  
ATK/DEF: 2000/2000

Haos Laserman  
Level: 6  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Machine  
ATK/DEF: 2200/2000

Effect Monsters

Haos Centipoid  
Level: 2  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Insect/Effect  
ATK/DEF: 800/1000  
Effect: If this card is attacked and destroyed by an opponent's monster, destroy the monster that attacked this card.

Haos Robattalion  
Level: 2  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Machine/Effect  
ATK/DEF: 900/900  
Effect: During the Battle Phase of the turn you Normal Summon this card, you can double its original ATK until the end of the Battle Phase.

Haos El Condor  
Level: 3  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Spellcaster/Tuner  
ATK/DEF: 1300/1100  
Effect: When you Normal Summon this card successfully, change the level of one Monster on your side of the field to the desired level needed for tuning.

Haos Manion  
Level: 3  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Fiend/Effect  
ATK/DEF: 1350/1000  
Effect: Negate one Spell or Trap Card and destroy it if it is targeted.

Haos Monarus  
Level: 3  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Fairy/Tuner  
ATK/DEF: 1000/1200  
Effect: When this card is successfully summoned, for every card in your opponent's hand, increase your Life Points by 500.

Haos Tentaclar  
Level: 3  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Fiend/Effect  
ATK/DEF: 1350/1550  
Effect: If targeted, once per turn, you can negate a monster's attack.

Synchro Monsters

Haos Aranaut  
Level: 6  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Warrior/Synchro  
ATK/DEF: 2000/2000  
Effect: 1 Tuner Monster + 1 or More Non-Tuner Monster

Haos Ancient Nemus  
Level: 6  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Fairy/Synchro/Effect  
ATK/DEF: 2400/2000  
Effect: 1 Tuner Monster + 1 or More Non-Tuner Monster  
Once per turn, you can Special Summon 1 LIGHT Monster from your Graveyard in Attack or Defense Position.

Haos Lars Lion  
Level: 7  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Warrior/Synchro/Effect  
ATK/DEF: 2500/2000  
Effect: 1 Tuner Monster + 1 or More Non-Tuner Monster  
When this card is successfully summoned, increase the ATK of all Monsters on your side of the field by 500.

Haos Omega Leonidas  
Level: 8  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Dragon/Synchro/Effect  
ATK/DEF: 3000/2500  
Effect: 1 Tuner Monster + 1 or More Non-Tuner Monster  
Once per turn, you can choose 1 LIGHT Monster from your Graveyard and this card receives half of the original ATK points of the chosen monster until the end of the Battle Phase.

Spells and Speed Spell Cards

Haos Reactor  
Type: Field  
Effect: When a LIGHT Monster is summoned, increase that Monster's ATK by 500.

Darkus and Haos Correlation  
Type: Normal  
Effect: Activate only if there is a LIGHT and DARK Monster on the field. Subtract the DARK Monster's ATK by 1000 and add it to the LIGHT Monster's ATK.

Attribute Change  
Type: Normal  
Effect: Select 1 Monster and change that Monster (s) attribute.  
x2

Rapid Haos  
Type: Quick-Play  
Effect: You can Special Summon 1 LIGHT Monster from your hand or deck as long as you have a LIGHT Monster on the field.

Triple Node- Pyrus, Aquos, Haos  
Type: Normal  
Effect: Activate only if there is a FIRE, WATER, and LIGHT Monster (s) on the field. Increase the ATK of those Monster (s) by 2000.

Those are the Monsters and Spell Cards I made up as cards and will be using. The rest are real and you can look it up on the Yu-Gi-Oh Wikia.

Double Summon  
Lightwave Tuning  
Pot of Greed  
Monster Reborn

Speed Spells

Angel Baton  
Speed Jammer x2  
Wheelie Breaker  
Dash Pilfer  
Sonic Buster  
Speed Energy  
Half Size  
Count Up  
Gap Storm

Trap Cards

Synchro Material  
Mirror Force  
Defense Draw  
Shard of Hope  
Destruction Jammer  
Bottomless Trap Hole  
Divine Wrath  
Birthright  
Totem Pole  
Synchro Strike 

There you have it, my deck. Be aware that is not considered a crossover when I am using these Bakugan and abilities.


	2. Chapter 1: Distorted Memories

Okay, now that you have read my deck database, this story can start right now. Like I said before, this is not considered a crossover when using the Bakugan and abilities as cards. Also, I'll incorporate a few Japanese here and there too. Oh, and if you don't know what the Bakugan look like, just look it up on Bakugan Wikia. Now let's start this story!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's, the cards, or the Bakugan and their abilities.

Chapter 1: Distorted Memories

New Domino City… a metropolis city where even the highest class of citizens resides. It is also the most common place where the most popular card game ever created has played. This card game was known as Duel Monsters. While other popular games were using game mats and other things, duelists use duel disks; special gauntlets used to play their cards while 'dueling with style.' All of that was possible thanks to Seto Kaiba, the President of Kaiba Corp. Years later, the dueling universe evolved. A new way of dueling was introduced by using dueling motorcycles known as Duel Runners to compete. This was called Turbo Dueling. Turbo Duelists duel through the road using a Field Spell called Speed World. They also use special kinds of spell cards called Speed Spells in which you need Speed Counters to use. If you have more Speed Counters, you can play more powerful Speed Spells. This kind of dueling has attracted many duelists and fans by storm. Our story begins at New Domino City in the Kaiba Dome, where Jack Atlas, the King of all Turbo Duels plays his trademark card, Red Dragon Archfiend and finishes his opponent off with one attack. His opponent's Duel Runner wobbled forcing him to slow down before he crashed and went to the side of the track.

"He won! He won again today!" The M.C. shouted. "He's just too good! Nobody can take his throne!" the crowd's cheer was deafening as they cheered for their 'King.' "How long is his undefeated streak going to go on? He is a living legend! He's our one and only King, Jack Atlas!"

"There's no denying I'm the King! The goddess of victory smiles upon me!" Jack said as he was doing his victory lap on his Duel Runner and points his index finger in the air showing that he is the best of the best.

And then we come across an island not too far away from New Domino City. It was a place where criminals run amok and the citizens were to recycle trash from New Domino City, and to make things worse, dueling there is forbidden. This island was called Satellite. Although, it helps New Domino City thrive by recycling their trash, the people there were looked down upon by residents of New Domino City; always being called 'scum' or 'trash.' And as said before, it is a place where criminals run amok so a police force known as Sector Security always keeps them in check. These criminals have these marks on their faces called 'Markers' that keep track of the criminal to make sure that they don't break the law again. If caught, then they are sent to the Facility to serve time until released. That is something Satellite residents should always be aware of.

One day Rally was walking towards the hideout where his friends always hang out, which was in an old abandoned subway until his feet stopped. He looked in the center of an abandoned and fractured road that was across the hideout and his eyes widened when he saw a man laid facedown without any sign of consciousness.

"Oh no! Someone's lying on the ground!" He cried worriedly as he ran up to the unconscious stranger. "Hey! You OK? Pull yourself together!"

"Uhh…" The man groaned as he slowly got up and found himself in an unfamiliar place. He was about eighteen years old. He has brown hair that is somewhat spiky and has blue eyes. He wears a gold t-shirt with a long-sleeved white jacket with gold strips. He also wears light-blue denim jeans, black shoes, and black fingerless gloves.

"Oh, thank goodness! You came to." Rally sighed with relief. "You're not hurt, are you?" He checked the taller boy for any injuries. "It doesn't seem like you're hurt. And it looks like you weren't attacked by any thugs… but it's dangerous, you know. So what are you doing just lying there in a place like this?" He asked. But the man kept silent. He doesn't even have a clue what to say.

"Uh… you don't want to answer huh? Well, have it your way." Rally said. They were silent for a while. "But come to think of it, I've never seen you around here before. Where did you come from?"

But the stranger was still silent. "Oh… you really don't want to tell me, huh?" The silence the taller boy was giving, is making Rally feel a little weird. So he decided to break the silence some more. "Um… this is Satellite. I guess they used to call this place Domino City a long time ago… Oh, right! I still haven't introduced myself! The name's Rally. Rally Dawson! So what's your name?"

The stranger opened his mouth a little bit finally and it was quivering as if he was a little surprised. He then finally responded. "I… I-I don't know."

"What? You don't know? Are you nuts or something?" The boy exclaimed with a puzzled and confused look on his face. "It's your own name, ya know!"

"Sorry, I really don't know." The stranger said sadly. "It must've slipped my mind or something."

"Huh… Oh! Maybe you have amnesia! Ooh, that's a toughie! So what should we do? If only we have some kind of clue to go on…" Rally folded his arms and was thinking. The taller boy did the same thing, but they weren't coming up with any ideas. Just then, Rally noticed something on the stranger's left arm.

"Hey, what's that you're carrying? Isn't that a duel disk?"

The stranger looked at his arm to see a duel disk strapped on his arm. It was a Blade version of the duel disk and it was silver too.

"So, you're a duelist, are you?" Rally asked. Then he just thought of an idea. "Then maybe you'll remember something if you have a duel with somebody! How about having a duel with me?"

"Think it's going to work?" The stranger asked.

"Well, we won't know until we try." Rally replied. The stranger thought about it and then nodded. "I guess it's worth a shot. Alright, let's do this!" The stranger said.

"Okay!" Rally said excited. But then he remembered something. "Ah! I completely forgot them!" Rally cried. "I don't have my deck with me!" The stranger then just fell down anime style.

"You've gotta be kidding me!" The stranger snapped after he got backed up.

"Sorry about that." Rally said sheepishly. "Lemme go get it." Just wait right here for a few minutes. I'll be right back." Rally said. And with that, he ran off to get his deck.

While the stranger was waiting, he noticed there was a deck box attached to his belt. He took it off and opened it. Inside was his deck. He looked at them and then he felt a jolting pain from his head. He held his head for a while and then the pain stopped.

'_That's right… I had this deck custom made. I drew those monsters and came up with some spell cards too. And then before long, they became cards and I made a deck out of them. Wait a minute, why am I remembering this now?_' The stranger thought to himself. Just then Rally showed up with his own duel disk. It was the standard version.

"Thanks for waiting there. Alright, I'm all set. Since you have amnesia, I'll make the duel a little bit easier for ya. Sound good?" Rally asked.

"Yeah. I'm fine with it." The stranger replied.

"Okay! Let's go!" Rally said. Both duelists activated their disks and inserted their decks in the slots and drew their first five cards.

"DUEL!"

**Stranger:** 4000

**Rally:** 4000

"I'll start things off." Rally said as he drew a card from his deck. "I summon my Cannon Soldier in attack mode!" Rally said. A purple and yellow robot with a long ranged cannon on top of its head then appeared (4) (ATK: 1400/DEF: 1300). "Then I'll end my turn from there."

"Ore no Ta-n (1)! Doro (2) !" The stranger said as he drew a card from his deck. He was looking at his cards very carefully seeing which one to play.

'Hmm… all these cards are too good. Maybe I should go a little easy on him too.' The stranger thought. "All right, here goes. I activate the Field Spell: Haos Reactor!" And then a light glowed from the ground and balls of transparent light of different colors appeared. "Whenever a LIGHT Monster is summoned, that Monster gains 500 attack points. Now I'll summon my Haos Siege in attack mode!"

A white knight in shining armor with a silk cape holding a staff appeared (4) (ATK: 1900/DEF: 1400). "And thanks to Haos Reactor, it gains 500 attack points."

Haos Siege (ATK: 2400/DEF: 1400)

"Haos Siege, attack Cannon Soldier!" The stranger commanded. The knight charged towards Cannon Soldier and pierced the machine. The machine then exploded and the knight backed off.

**Stranger:** 4000

**Rally:** 3000

"Now I'll throw a facedown and call it a turn." The stranger said.

"Alright, here goes! I draw!" Rally said as he drew a card from his deck. "Nice! First, I'll summon my X-Head Cannon in attack mode!" Rally said. A blue-yellow machine with big arm gauntlets and twin-long ranged cannons on its shoulders with a spiked ball base appeared (4) (ATK: 1800/DEF: 1500). "And thanks to your Haos Reactor, it gets 500 ATK points as a bonus.

X-Head Cannon (ATK: 2300/DEF: 1500)

"Now I'll activate a Spell Card called Brain Control! By paying 800 life points, I can control one of your Monsters until the end of the turn. In this case, it's Haos Siege."

**Stranger:** 4000

**Rally:** 2200

A brain with fiendish like arms appeared and then grabbed Haos Siege and put it on Rally's side of the field. "Wow. I never thought that the duel was going to be this short, but oh well. Haos Siege, attacks the stranger's life points directly!" The knight charged at the stranger and thrusted his staff at him. The stranger got in a defense position, and the staff hit him.

**Stranger:** 1600

**Rally:** 2200

"Now X-Head Cannon, let's finish it!" Rally said. X-Head Cannon pointed its twin long-ranged cannon at the stranger and fired a bright beam and made a hit and dust covered the area. Rally thought he won, but when the dust cleared, the stranger was still standing and a trap card was also revealed.

"I activate, Defense Draw. When you attack me, the damage becomes zero and I can draw one card from my deck." The stranger said and drew one card.

"Man, I thought I had you there. Alright, I end my turn." Rally said a little disappointed and then Haos Siege went back on the stranger's side of the field.

"And I thought you said that you were going to go easy on me." The stranger complanied, but then he cracked a smile. "Alright, I got you. I see how it is." The stranger said with a got-it-all-figured-out tone. "Now it's time that I pay you back. Ore no ta-n!" The stranger said as he drew his card. "First, I'll activate Pot of Greed, which let's me draw 2 cards." The stranger then drew 2 cards from his deck. "Next, I summon my Haos Falconeer in attack maode!" A white feathered humanoid falcon with wings appeared on the field (4) (ATK: 1600/DEF:1400). "And don't forget Haos Reactor effect. It raised by Falconeer's attack by 500.

Haos Falconeer: (ATK: 2100/DEF: 1400)

"Next I activate Double Summon, which lets me Summon another Monster this turn and now I'll summon the tuner monster Haos El Condor!" The stranger said. A skinny shaman-like creature with a big Aztec-like mask appeared (3) (ATK: 1300/DEF: 1100). "First, I'll have Haos Reactor raise my El Condor's attack points.

Haos El Condor: (ATK: 1800/DEF: 1100)

"Now I'll activate his special ability. When he's summoned successfully, I can change one monster's level on my side of the field to the desired level needed for tuning. And I choose my Haos Falconeer!" El Condor then glowed and energy poured over to the humanoids falcon.

Haos Falconner's level: 5

"Hold on. Desired level needed for tuning? Wait, so you're-" Rally began.

"That's right. I tune my level 5 Falconner with my level 3 El Condor!" The stranger said. El Condor then turned into three greens and Falconeer turned into 5 balls of light. The stranger then began chanting.

"_Shinzou no tamashii ga , piasu no hikari o kensaku to yami o uchikudaku! Shinkuro Shokan! Araware o, Haos Omega Leonidas!_ (3)"

The balls of light lined up and went into the tunnel of rings and a beam of light shot out of the rings. When the light faded, a white and yellow dragon appeared with two large horns protruding from its muzzle, one smaller than the other, while two horns just off its eyebrows. Spikes run along its back and tail, with large claws on its three-fingered hands and two-toed feet (8) (ATK: 3000/ DEF: 2500)

"Whoa! You even got a Synchro Monster on you!" Rally exclaimed.

"Yup. This is my ace monster. Now first, I'll let Leonidas get 500 attack points thanks to Haos Reactor.

Haos Omega Leonidas: (ATK: 3500/DEF: 2500)

"And then I'll have Haos Siege attack your X-Head Cannon!" The stranger said. The knight went towards the machine and stabbed with its staff. Static was surrounding the robot and then exploded.

**Stranger:** 1600

**Rally:** 2100

"And since you have no more monsters on the field, you're wide open for a direct attack."

"Oh crap…" Rally mumbled.

"Leonidas, attack his life points directly with Omega Eraser!" The stranger commanded. The white dragon then flew up in the air opened up its mouth and fired a large blue beam at Rally. Rally again, protected himself from the blast as his life points depleted.

**Stranger:** 1600

**Rally:** 0

The holograms faded and the duel disks deactivated. The duelists then put their cards away in their deck boxes and the stranger came up to Rally. His head was down.

"Hey you okay?" The stranger asked. Rally was still silent. "Look, don't feel bad. I probably should take the blame for it. Maybe my cards are just too good." Just then Rally lifted up his head with a big smile on his face.

"Wow! You're really good! Unbelievable! It's been awhile since I had such a fun duel!" The stranger was startled a little bit by his reaction.

"Well, uh… I'm… glad you had fun then." the stranger chuckled.

"So anyway, did you remember anything?" Rally asked.

For a few moments, the stranger thought long and hard, but nothing came up. "Sorry. Nothing."

"Oh well, at least we tried. Sorry." Rally said sadly.

"It's alright." The stranger said. Then something unexpected happened. A sharp jolt hit his head. He knelt down on one knee and was holding his head.

"Hey! What's wrong?" Rally asked worriedly. The jolting lasted for a few more seconds and then it stopped. Then the stranger opened his eyes and realized something

"You okay?" Rally asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine…" The stranger said as he got back up. "And I think I know who I am now."

"You remember? So what's your name?" Rally asked. There was a short silence and then the stranger's mouth opened.

"My name… is Kurogasa Kururugi."

So what do you think? Yeah, I know that duel was short, but that's what I put for this chapter. So review and please don't flame me.

(1)- "It's my turn!"

(2)- "Draw!" (Obviously)

(3)- "Grinding light of the heart's soul, pierce and shatter thorugh the darkness! Synchro Summon! Appear now! Haos Omega Leonidas!


	3. Chapter 2: Unfriendly Welcome

Okay! I hope you're ready for Chapter 2 of this Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's story, because it's coming your way right now. To those who reviewed, I thank you for reviewing it. It really means a lot. Now on with the chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's, the cards, the Bakugan, and their abilities.

Chapter 2: Unfriendly Welcome

"I think I know who I am now."

"You remember? So what's your name?" Rally asked. There was a short silence and then the stranger's mouth opened.

"My name… is Kurogasa Kururugi."

"So your name is Kurogasa Kururugi huh? Well... it's nice to meet you, Kurogasa!" Rally said and held out his hand. "Yeah, same here." Kurogasa took the boy's hand and shook it. "That was strange. I was able to remember my name after I dueled you."

"Then maybe that's it! I bet you'll remember other things if you dueled some more."

"Maybe..." Kurogasa looked at his duel disk for a moment, and then looked around the street and then back at Rally. "Are there any other duelist around here?"

"Well, basically us people in the Satellite aren't allowed to play Duel Monsters. My friends and I hang out in a place not too far from here." Rally pointed to the street. "If you go south, you'll find a subway. That's where we always meet up. I wish I could show you, but I got something to do now."

"Are you sure they'll let me in? I am a stranger to them." Kurogasa pointed out.

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure they'll let you in. They're all good guys. You just need to say my name."

"That's all I have to do huh? Alright."

"Great! I'll be back soon so I'll be able to introduce you to everyone then. In the meantime, maybe you should duel a little while you're waiting. Well, OK then! See ya later!"

"Okay, see ya." Kurogasa waved goodbye as Rally ran off.

Right after Rally left, Kurogasa went walking to the subway station that Rally mentioned. The path was in bad shape. The sidewalks were old and cracked and the light posts were dirty and rusted. The buildings around him have broken windows and unstable debris. They look like they could collapse any minute. While Kurogasa was walking, he was thinking about the things that were happening up to now.

'_Man, this is getting weird. First, for some odd reason I end up here in Satellite with no memory of who I am and then I'm starting to remember things piece by piece. Just what is up with me?_' He thought to himself.

At last, he made it to the subway entrance. He was just about to enter when a man walked out. He was tall and wears a blue bandanna and a white shirt over a green sweater. "Hm, I've never seen you before. What do you want with us? Only our friends are allowed to enter here."

"Uh... Rally Dawson said I could come here." Kurogasa said. "He can't come with me because he said he had something to do. But he said he'll introduce me to everyone later." He explained.

"Rally, huh? Well, I don't know you, so no matter what you say, I'm not buying it."

"But..." Kurogasa began, but was cut off from talking.

"If you understand what I'm saying, then you better leave. No matter what, you can't come in."

"…alright." Kurogasa sighed. He turns around and begins to walk away. '_Well that's great, I can't go in._' He thought.

"Hey, wait a second," the man said. Kurogasa stopped and turned around. "Is that a duel disk you're carrying?"

Kurogasa looks at his silver duel disk and looks back at him. "Yeah, why?"

"Well, I'm kind of a duelist myself. It's just getting boring around here anyway… so why don't we have a duel then?" the man takes out his disk. It's the same as Rally's. "I'll make a deal with ya. If you beat me, then I'll believe your story."

"Really? Okay, let's go!" Both players walked out to the middle of the street and both activated their duel disks and drew five cards each.

"DUEL!

**Man:** 4000

**Kurogasa:** 4000

"Ore no Ta-n! Doro!" Kurogasa said and drew his first card. "Alright, I'll summon my Haos Hynoid in attack mode!" A white and yellow werewolf-like hyena appeared on the field (ATK: 1300/DEF: 1000). "Then I'll place a facedown and end my turn."

"It's my move!" the man said as he drew a card from his deck. The man smirked a little bit. "First, I'll summon my Dark Effigy in attack mode!" A medium-sized black block made out of small black blocks appeared on the field (ATK: 1500/DEF: 0). "Then I'll place a facedown

and end my turn. Your move." The man as he finished placing a card in his duel disk.

'_He didn't attack me with his Dark Effigy. What's he up to?_' Kurogasa thought. "Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa said as he drew a card. "Alright, if you won't attack then I will. But first, I'll activate this spell card from my hand. I play Darkus and Haos Correlation. Whenever there is a light and dark monster on the field. The dark monster loses 1000 of its attack points and gets added to the light monster's attack points.

"Say what?" The man said as energy from Dark Effigy is transferred to Hynoid.

Haos Hynoid: (ATK: 2300/DEF: 1000)

Dark Effigy: (ATK: 500/DEF: 0)

"Haos Hynoid, attack Dark Effigy!" Kurogasa commanded. The werewolf like creature then ran towards the black block.

"Not so fast! I activate Negate Attack! This trap card ends your battle phase and saves my monster." The man said. When Hynoid struck with it's claws, a vortex appeared and stopped Hynoid and then the werewolf backed off.

"I end my turn." Kurogasa said.

"My move." The man said as he drew a card. "First I'll summon my Alligator's Sword in attack mode." An alligator with armor and a sword and shield appeared on the field (ATK: 1500/DEF: 1200). "Then I activate the spell card Share the Pain. I offer one monster on my field and you offer yours. I sacrifice Alligator's Sword." The man said as the alligator disappeared from the field.

"Then I'll sacrifice my Hynoid..." Kurogasa said with disappointment as the werewolf disappeared. 'Great. Now I'm wide open.' He thought.

"Now I activate another spell card. Double Summon. This lets me summon another monster this turn. And I release my Dark Effigy to summon Cosmo Queen!" The man said.

"Hold up! You need to release two monsters to do that." Kurogasa pointed out.

"Not with Dark Effigy. If I sacrifice it, it counts as 2 tributes." The man explained. The block disappeared and then a woman with red skin, a dress that looks like a queen's dress and a big crown on her head showed (ATK: 2900/DEF: 2450).

"This can't be good." Kurogasa said to himself.

"Cosmo Queen, attack directly on his life points!" The man ordered. The woman then formed a ball of energy from her hand that contains galaxies and fired it at Kurogasa. He protected himself as his life points went down.

**Man:** 4000

**Kurogasa:** 1100

"And I'll end my turn from there." The man finished.

'Man, for a guy that's kind of a duelist, he's really good. I gotta think of something fast or I'm done for.' Kurogasa thought. "Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa said and drew a card. "I play Pot of Greed which lets me draw two cards." Kurogasa said and drew two more cards from his deck.

He looked surprised as he saw the cards.

"Just what I needed." Kurogasa said.

"Huh? The man asked.

"I just got the cards needed to win this duel. First, I'll activate the trap card, Birthright! This lets me summon a normal monster from my graveyard in attack position. So I bring back Haos Hynoid!" The trap card glowed and Hynoid was back on the field.

"Now I'll play Rapid Haos which lets me special summon a light monster from my hand or deck as long as there is a light monster on the field. And I'll summon my Haos Robattalion in attack mode from my deck. A white and yellow robot then appeared (ATK: 900/DEF: 900).

"Now I summon my Haos Siege to the field. Then the white knight in armor holding his staff showed (ATK: 1900/DEF: 1400). "Now I'll play my Double Summon which lets me summon another monster. And I summon the Tuner Monster Haos El Condor!" The shaman like creature with the big Aztec mask appeared (ATK: 1300/ DEF: 1100).

"Now for his special ability. If he is summoned successfully, I can change one monster's level on my side of the field to the desired level needed for tuning. And I change my Haos Hynoid's level to 3. El Condor poured energy into Hynoid.

Haos Hynoid's level: 3

"It's time for the fun part. I tune my now, level 3 Hynoid with my level 3 El Condor!" Kurogasa said. El Condor turned into 3 three rings and Hynoid turned into 3 balls of light.

"_Ten no houshakou ha , kurayami no ue ni kagayaki , subete no eien no tame ni sore o fusshoku suru Shinkuro Shoukan! Migaki ni, Haos Ancient Nemus_ (1)!"

The balls of light went into the tunnel of rings and a beam shot out. The light faded and then a male angelic warrior with yellow armor and angelic wings that are bladed and round and holding a staff appeared (ATK: 2400/DEF: 2000).

"Whoa! You got Synchros too huh?" the man asked.

"Yep. Now I'll play these two spell cards called Attribute Change. It lets me change the attribute of one of my monsters. Since I have two, I'll change my Robattalion's attribute to fire and Haos Siege to water. The monsters glowed and then the robot is now red and yellow and knight is blue and his weapon changed from a staff to a lance.

"How does that gonna beat me? My Cosmo queen is still the strongest monster on the field." The man pointed out.

"I know, but once I play this card, then it won't be. I activate the spell card Triple Node- Pyrus, Aquos, Haos! I can only activate it if there is a fire, water, and light monster on the field. If they are then those monsters get 2000 attack points!" Kurogasa said.

"WHAT?" The man said in shock.

Pyrus Robattalion- (ATK: 2900/DEF: 900)

Aquos Siege- (ATK: 3900/DEF: 1000)

Haos Ancient Nemus- (ATK: 4400/DEF: 2000)

"Holy Crap! That means-"

"That's right! It's all over! Pyrus Robattalion attack Cosmo Queen now!" Kurogasa ordered. The robot then fired a beam from it's chest while the queen fired a cosmic ball of energy and fired it too. The two hit and exploded with both monsters destroyed.

"Aquos Siege! Attack his life points!" Kurogasa said. The knight charged towarda the man and the man protected himself as he got hit.

**Man:** 100

**Kurogasa:** 1100

"Finish it off Nemus, with Sparkling Arrow!" Kurogasa yelled. The staff glowed and the male angelic warrior sent a wave of light energy at the man like shooting an arrow. The man again protected himself as his life points depleted.

**Man:** 0

**Kurogasa:** 1100

The duel disks deactivated and the holograms faded.

"Aw...you got me," the man said. "OK, I'll believe that you actually know Rally."

Just then Rally showed up when the duel was done. "Hey, Blitz! Ah, I see you guys were dueling, weren't you?" He asked.

"Well, we're talking about a stranger here." The man now called Blitz said. "I thought I'd drive him off, but he's pretty strong."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. We've got a real duelist on our hands! So let me introduce you. This is Kurogasa Kururugi. We met a little while ago. And Kurogasa, this is Blitz. He's one of my best buds!"

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Blitz." Kurogasa said and reached out to shake hands. "It's good to meet you too, Kurogasa." Blitz said as he reached out and they both shook hands.

"Sorry for doubting you back there." Blitz apologized.

"It's no big deal." Kurogasa shrugged.

"Say Blitz, I think Kurogasa has amnesia or something. Isn't the anything we can do to help?" Rally asked.

"Amnesia, huh? As in he can't remember things from the past? Whoa, that's a toughie..."

"Yeah..." Kurogasa said. "I was unconscious at a street not too far from here and then Rally showed up. After he and I dueled, that's when I remembered my name. But other than that, I don't remember anything else..."

"Except that Kurogasa is a duelist with a whole lot of skill!" Rally finished.

"So a duel brought back your name, huh?" Blitz wondered, "I wonder if dueling me also helped bring something back. Did it?"

Kurogasa thought for a while if he could remember anything, but he shook his head. "Nope, nothing." He said in disappointment.

"Ah, it's alright, Kurogasa. I bet it'll all come back soon enough!" Rally said optimistically and got Kurogasa's arm. "I'd better introduce you to the rest of the gang. Come on!" Rally said as he and

Kurogasa went into the subway and Blitz followed.

(1)- Radiant light of the heavens, shine down on darkness and dispel it for all eternity! Synchro Summon! Shine on, Haos Ancient Nemus!


	4. Chapter 3: Duel Runner Dilemma

Now it's time for Chapter 3 of this Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's story. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Same as last time.

Chapter 3: Duel Runner Dilemma

Kurogasa, Rally, and Blitz got to the underground subway and then two more people showed up. One is a big-boned guy with short, spiky brown hair. The other wears small glasses resting on his nose and has blue dreadlocks tied up in a ponytail.

"Hey, Rally!" The big boned guy said and then he looked at Kurogasa. "Huh? Who's that?"

"Tank and Nervin! Good timing! This is Kurogasa Kururugi. We just met." Rally said.

"Did Blitz let him in?" Tank asked.

"Of course!"

"That's OK then." Nervin said. "I'm Nervin. Good to meet you." He greeted and held out his hand.

"Likewise." Kurogasa replied and shook his hand.

"I'm Tank. Nice to meet you Kurogasa." Tank introduced as he held out his hand as well. "Same here." Kurogasa said and shook his hand.

"Hey guys, guess what? Kurogasa's a duelist!" Rally said.

"A duelist, eh? In that case, you want to duel me?" Tank asked.

"Hey! I was just going to challenge him!" Nervin complained.

"Okay guys, hold on a minute. Just so you two won't get in an argument, how about this? I'll duel Tank and then it will be your turn Nervin. Sound fair?" Kurogasa asked.

Nervin was a little bit hesitant, but agreed. "Alright, I'll be after Tank."

"Alright, since that's settled, I guess I'll go ahead and watch. Good luck Kurogasa." Rally said as he went to the side. Kurogasa and Tank activated their duel disks and the duel commenced.

Later…

"No way! I lost!" Nervin said.

"Sorry about that, like I said my cards are just too good." Kurogasa shrugged.

"Well, it looks like this duel's over. So, can you remember anything else?" Rally asked.

"No. I still can't remember anything." Kurogasa said.

"Hmm… still nothing huh? Alright, we can try again later. In the meantime, come with me to the shack." Rally said. Kurogasa and Rally walked over to a large yellow tent. Inside was a little cluttered, but it does have a few old pieces of furniture and a laptop lying on a desk on the side.

"There's a lot of stuff, so watch your step. Make sure you don't touch the computer on your right, OK?" Rally said. Kurogasa was looking around the tent and then he accidently sat on the keyboard. It made a loud beeping sound, which scared the crap out of Kurogasa.

"Hey! Didn't I tell you not to touch the computer?" Rally snapped.

"Sorry! It was on accident. I didn't know the keyboard was there and I didn't mean to sit on it." Kurogasa apologized.

"Geez, you got to be more careful. Watch where you're sitting next time." Rally sighed.

Then they hear a strange whirring sound. For some reason, Kurogasa was familiar with that sound, but he can't remember.

"Hey, it sounds like Yusei's back." Rally said.

"Who's Yusei?" Kurogasa asked.

"He's also one of my best buds. C'mon, I'll introduce you to him." Rally said and he and Kurogasa stepped out of the shack. When they exited from the shack and ran to the edge where the rails are, they saw a bright red motorcycle coming to them. The bike stopped beside them, the driver got off and took of his red helmet. It revealed a young man about Kurogasa's age, with blue eyes and spiky black hair with yellow highlights.

"Welcome back Yusei!" Rally greeted.

"Hi, Rally…" Yusei greeted back and then noticed Kurogasa. "Who's that?" He asked.

"Oh right, this is Kurogasa Kururugi. There's something odd about Kurogasa, but not in a bad way. I brought him by here to become one of our friends, and now everyone's fine with it! Kurogasa's a duelist, too. And Kurogasa, this is Yusei."

"Uh, hi there." Kurogasa greeted.

Yusei didn't change his expression, but he nodded in response to the greeting. "I'm going to take another ride." Yusei said as he put his helmet back on and drove off into the tunnels of the subway.

"Is he always like that?" Kurogasa asked.

"Not all the time. Don't worry, he's a good guy." Rally assured him.

Just then, a sudden jolt hit his head again. Kurogasa held his head and was on one knee again.

"Hey! What's wrong?" Rally asked worriedly. As the jolting went on, Kurogasa was having a flashback.

He finds himself riding along an abandoned highway on a Duel Runner! Someone was chasing him on a Duel Runner with sirens on it. He was drawing a card from his deck. Although his right arm was in excruciating pain, he never let go of that card until he played it.

"I activate the speed spell: Wheelie Breaker!"

After the flashback, he fell to the ground and blacked out.

When he woke up, he was on the couch and Rally, Blitz, Nervin, and Tank were next to him.

"Uh, what happened?" Kurogasa asked groggily.

"You blacked out man." Blitz said.

"How long was I out?"

"A couple of hours." Nervin said.

"What happened?" Tank asked.

"I don't know. I just had this major jolt in my head and the next thing I know, like you guys said I blacked out." Kurogasa said.

"You must've remembered something. Did you?" Rally asked.

"Yeah, I must've had some kind of flashback." Kurogasa said. He then found his silver Blade duel disk on the desk and got it. He looked at it as if he was looking for something. He then found a card that was in a hidden space and got it. He then looked at it. "I was riding a motorcycle, kind of like the one that Yusei was riding, but the frame and color was different. My right arm for some reason was hurting, but besides that, I was playing this." He holds up his Wheelie Breaker spell card. Everyone's eyes widened in surprise.

"Whoa! That's a Speed Spell!" Nervin exclaimed.

"How did you get such a thing?" Blitz asked.

"If that's what you remembered, then maybe you're a turbo duelist!" Rally said.

"A turbo-what?" Kurogasa asked in confusion.

"A turbo duelist! Duelists who duel while riding a duel runner!" Tank explained.

"Well one card doesn't exactly prove that he is a turbo duelist, but it does make it pretty likely. When you think about it, it's kinda rare to meet someone with a Speed Spell. Now if Kurogasa also had a duel runner, then we'd certainly have a turbo duelist on our hands!" Blitz said with a small grin.

"Yeah, I see what you mean. So Kurogasa, do you remember where your duel runner is?"

"Well, when I woke up, it wasn't with me. Jason said, "I have no other idea what happened to it though. And not only that, I have no idea what exactly this duel runner of mine looks like."

"Damn, amnesia is really a downer, huh?" Blitz pointed out. "But the only turbo duelists around here are either Yusei or Sector Security." after a short pause, he then realized something. "Wait. Then is it possible that you come from New Domino City?" He asked Kurogasa.

"New Domino City?" Kurogasa asked back.

"Oh, yeah! That's gotta be right!" Rally said. "So maybe going into Domino will make the amnesia go away."

"I guess so, but I still need a duel runner though."

"Don't worry about that. Just leave it to us. We'll all help you find one."

"Good idea!" Rally agrees, "If everyone pitches in, then we're sure to find one!"

A few days later…

Kurogasa, Rally, Blitz, and Tank were hanging out in the shack in the subway. With no luck, they couldn't find a duel runner during those past few days. Then Nervin comes running in and stopping at the entrance of the shack.

"Whoa, Nervin, what's up?" Kurogasa asked.

"You're not going to believe this, but I actually found us a Duel Runner!" Nervin said while catching his breath. Everyone was surprised to hear this.

"You're kidding me!" Blitz exclaimed.

"You mean you actually found a Duel Runner?" Rally asked.

"Yeah. There's a duel runner shop that's not too far from here and the store owner is willing to give one away." Nervin explained.

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Tank said all excited.

The four of them then followed Nervin to the duel runner shop that he found. They were walking for a few more minutes until they got to the slums of Satellite and near an old highway. There they find the duel runner shop. The store had a garage feeling to it.

"This is it." Nervin said. The group was walking towards the shop until out of nowhere, the garage door was destroyed when a motorcycle broke through it. The group dived out of the way and then the driver sped off with the motorcycle.

"What the hell was that?" Kurogasa asked.

"You don't think that was…" Blitz began.

"Get back here!" A voice yelled. The group turned around to see the storeowner coming out from the store. He then stopped to catch his breath.

"Hey, what happened?" Nervin asked the storeowner. The storeowner glanced at Nervin.

"I was waiting for you to come back so your friend can get the duel runner until that thug went off with it."

"What? The runner is stolen?" Nervin asked in shock.

"That guy we saw riding a motorcycle… he must've stolen it." Kurogasa said.

"I'm sorry." The storeowner apologized.

"It's not your fault. Anyways, we need to find the thief who stole the runner. He couldn't have gone too far." Kurogasa said.

"Hey guys, look!" Rally called. Kurogasa and the rest came up to him. "Look, these are tire tracks. It was probably from the Duel Runner."

"Good work Rally. These tire tracks should lead us to the thief. Let's follow it." Kurogasa said. Kurogasa, Rally, Blitz, Nervin, Tank, and the storeowner ran as they follow the tire tracks to the thief.

Meanwhile in an abandoned building…

"Ha-ha! This runner is amazing. With this, I can definitely get out of this slum and go on my way to fame." The thug said to himself.

"Hey! We know you're in there! Get out here!" Kurogasa called from outside the abandoned building.

"Great. Just my luck. They must be here for the runner. I'll make sure they won't get it." The thug said to himself.

Meanwhile, Kurogasa, the storeowner, and the rest of the gang were waiting outside the building for a while and then the thug came out of the building with a standard duel disk on his wrist.

"What do you people want?" The thug asked.

"You know why we're here. Now where's the Duel Runner?" Rally asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about." The thug lied.

"Quit screwing around! We know you have it. Now where is it?" Kurogasa asked angrily.

"Alright, alright. If you want to know so badly, it's inside the building. But you're not getting it. That runner is my one-way ticket out of this dump." The thug said.

"That runner is supposed to be mine! Give it back right now!" Kurogasa demanded.

"I don't take orders from you. I'm not giving up this runner either." The thug said. "Unless..."

"Unless what?" Kurogasa asked.

"Unless you duel me for it. I'll make a deal with you. If you win, you can have the runner. But if I win, it's all mine." The thug proposed.

"Fine. We'll duel for it." Kurogasa accepted. Kurogasa and the thug then put their decks in the deck slot and the duel activated. Both duelists drew their first five cards.

"DUEL!"

**Kurogasa:** 4000

**Thug:** 4000

"I'll go first." The thug said as he drew a card from his deck.

"I'll summon my Watchkeeper of Mist Valley in attack mode!"The thug said. A human with huge goggles with bird claws on his hands and feet and wings grown on his arms appeared (ATK: 1500/DEF: 1900). "Then I'll place two facedowns and my turn." He finished.

"Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa said and drew a card from his deck. "I summon my Haos Robattalion in attack mode!" A white robot then appeared on the field. "And on the turn it's summoned, it doubles its original attack points until the end of the turn." The robot glowed with yellow energy as it powered up.

Haos Robattalion: (ATK: 1800/DEF: 900)

"Robattalion attack his Watchmen of Valley Mist!" Kurogasa ordered. The robot fired a laser from its chest and was coming towards the opposing monster.

"Not so fast! I activate my trap Compulsory Evacuation Device! This lets me return one monster on the field to the owner's hand. And I choose your Haos Robattalion!" The thug said. A catapult appeared underneath Robattalion and launched him up into the air and then he glowed yellow turned into energy and went back to its card. Kurogasa then put back the card in his hand.

"I'll throw these two facedown and call it a turn." Kurogasa finished.

"Now it's my turn!" The thug said and drew his card. "I summon my Falcon of Mist Valley in attack mode!" A human with wings on its arms carrying a sword and shield appeared (ATK: 2000/DEF: 1200). "Now I'll activate my other trap, Icarus Attack! If I tribute one wing-beast type monster on my field, then I can destroy two cards on your side of the field. So I sacrifice my Falcon of Valley Mist to destroy your facedowns."

"What?" Kurogasa said in shock. Falcon Valley of Mist disappeared and a lightning bolt came down from the sky and destroyed the two cards that were facedown."I'm done yet. I play my Monster Reborn spell card to bring him back!" Falcon of Valley Mist then came back.

"Now that you're wide open, Watchkeeper of Mist Valley, attack his life points directly!" The thug ordered. The watchkeeper charged at Kurogasa and scratched him.

**Kurogasa:** 2500

**Thug:** 4000

"Now it's your turn Falcon of Mist Valley!" The thug said. "But I have to return one monster to my hand before I attack with him." He said returning the Watchmen of Mist Valley to his hand. The thug's second monster came at him and hit Kurogasa with his sword.

**Kurogasa:** 500

**Thug:** 4000

"Damn it!" Kurogasa said bitterly. The storeowner was getting worried.

"Kurogasa!" Rally cried.

"Oh man, he's already down to 500 life points already." Tank said worriedly.

"One more attack like that and it's over." Nervin added.

"C'mon Kurogasa. Hang tough!" Blitz cheered.

"Heh, I'll end my turn from there." The thug smiled thinking he was going to win.

"Don't count me out just yet. I still got some dueling left in me." Kurogasa said. 'Almost all the cards I need are here. I just need to draw it. C'mon, give me something here.' Kurogasa thought. "Ore no ta- n!" He said and drew his card.

"Nice! First I'll play Pot of Greed which lets me draw two cards." Kurogasa then drew them. Next, I summon my Haos Manion in attack mode!" A white Sphinx like creature with wings appeared (ATK: 1350/ DEF: 1000). "Next I play the spell card Rapid Haos. This lets me summon another light monster from my hand or deck as long as there is a light monster on the field and I summon my Haos Saurus from my deck in attack mode!" A white triceratops with armor walking on two legs appeared (ATK: 1700/DEF: 1500).

"Now I play another spell card called Lightwave Tuning! I change one level 4 light monster on my side of the field to a tuner and I chose my Haos Saurus. Saurus glowed green as it was given the powers of a tuner. "Also I play the field spell Haos Reactor! For every light monster I summon, it gains 500 attack points." The field then glowed with light from the ground and balls of light in different colors rose up.

"Now I tune my level 3 Manion with my level 4 Saurus!" Kurogasa said as Saurus turned into 4 green rings and Manion turned into 3 balls of light.

"_Kurai kokoro no okusoko kara , sono megumi to anata no kokoro ni hikari o kagayaka seru! Shinkuro Shokan! Araware o! Haos Lars Lion_ (1)!"

The balls of light went into the tunnel of rings and beam shot out of it. When the light appeared a majestic female angelic warrior appeared (ATK: 2500/DEF: 2000).

"Now her ability activates. If she is summoned successfully, all light monsters on side of the field gains 500 attack points.

Haos Lars Lion: (ATK: 3000/DEF: 2000)

"And thanks to Haos Reactor, it gains 500 more attack points since I summoned her."

Haos Lars Lion: (ATK: 3500/DEF: 2000)

"But there's more where that came from. I play Attribute Change which let's change a monster attribute and I'll change your Falcon of the Mist Valley to dark." The thug's monster's feather then turned dark.

"Why would you want to do that?" The thug asked.

"So I can play this. My final spell card. Darkus and Haos Correlation! I can only play this if there is a light and dark monster on the added to the light monster's in this case, it's your Falcon of the Mist Valley that is now a dark attribute monster and my Haos Lars Lion."

"No way!" The thug said as the energy is transferred from the thug's monster to Lars Lion.

Falcon of the Mist Valley: (ATK: 1000/DEF: 1200)

Haos Lars Lion: (ATK: 4500/DEF: 2000)

"I wished this attack would've finished you off, but at least you'll take big damage and tie with me. Lars Lion attack Falcon of the Mist Valley with Sagitarius Arrow!" Kurogasa ordered. A bow formed on Lars Lion wrist and an arrow made of light was formed as well. She fired the arrow and it hit the thug's monster and destroying it into pixels.

**Kurogasa:** 500

**Thug:** 500

"Grrr..." The thug growled.

"Yeah! Go Kurogasa!" Rally cried happily.

"Man, I thought that would finish him for good." Nervin said.

"Yeah I thought so too. Anything can happen now that they're tied." Blitz added.

"So what are you going to do now?" Kurogasa asked. "I've already finished my turn and it's your move."

The thug was standing there for a while, but then he places his hand over his deck. "You surrender?" He asked again.

"Yeah. I can't beat that Monster of yours and I don't have anything in my hand that could beat it." The thug shrugged. "You can have the runner." He said and left and walked off as if it wasn't a big a deal, but with an evil grin.

The holograms faded and Kurogasa put his cards away and Rally and the other including the storeowner.

"I can't believe he quit just like that!" Rally said.

"At least he knew when to quit. We both knew that he couldn't win." Kurogasa said.

"Thank you so much. I don't know how to repay you." The storeowner said happily.

"It's alright, you don't have to do that." Kurogasa said.

"No, I should repay you. For helping me, I'll give the duel runner to you for free. I'll even give you the best parts I've got in my store."

"Wow, really? Thanks!" Kurogasa said excited. "C'mon, let's check out the runner." The group and storeowner went in the abandoned building and the group was amazed on what frame it was.

"Whoa! That's an Omega Frame!" Kurogasa said with excitement as he ran over to it to check it out.

"You know the model?" Rally asked.

"Well, no. But for some reason, I know it. This runner is the most powerful runner out of all the other three models."

"There's three other frames you know?" Blitz asked.

"Yep. There's the Alpha, Beta, and Gamma Frames. But the Omega Frame is the most powerful out of all the other ones." Kurogasa explained.

"Wow. That's amazing." Tank said.

"Yeah, I can definitely get some speed out of this. This runner even has a DWE-X engine in here." Kurogasa said but then he noticed something wasn't right. He checked everything to be sure it's okay, but then his expression changed.

"That bastard!" Kurogasa yelled angrily.

"What is it?" Tank asked.

"There's no CPU in this runner. Without the CPU, the runner can't work. That thug must've taken it out before he duel, so I can't use it! Damn it!" Kurogasa said angrily, but then he calmed down. Everyone was silent for a while.

"Well, at least you got the Duel Runner." Blitz pointed out.

"Yeah, I guess. Do you have any more CPU's at your store?" Kurogasa asked the storeowner.

"Unfortunately, no. I'm all out." The storeowner said sadly.

"I see. Well, let's get the other parts." Kurogasa sighed. So the gang went and the storeowner went back to the shop, along with the duel runner they got a pair of wings, and the latest accelerator, turbo, and balancer chips to go with it. After that, Kurogasa and the gang went back to the subway. In the subway, Yusei was waiting for them.

"Hey guys. Where have you all been? And is that what I think it is?" Yusei asked.

"Yep. It's a duel runner alright. As for where we've been I'll let Rally and the others tell you. Right now I'm beat." Kurogasa said tiredly. Kurogasa parked his duel runner in a corner along with the other parts and went to the shack to take a nap on the couch while Yusei was listening to his friends, the story of what happened.

Later in the evening, Kurogasa woke up and saw no one was there but him, so he decided to work on his runner. He was trying to install the new chips he got from the store owner. It was kinda difficult for him to do. The only thing he got in was the pair of wings. Just then Yusei showed up.

"Y-Yusei. What are you doing here?" Kurogasa asked a little startled.

"Just thought I'd come to see how you're doing. And it looks like you need help installing those chips on the duel runner." Yusei said.

"Yeah, I kinda do need help." Kurogasa said sheepishly. And so the two were working on Kurogasa's duel runner for a while and after that they finished installing it.

"So did Rally and the others tell you?" Kurogasa asked.

"Yeah. And I also heard about your amnesia problem. After hearing that from them it's very possible that you could be from the City. Are you thinking about going there?" Yusei asked.

"I have to. If I'm going to recover my memories, then this duel runner is my one-way ticket to get there." Kurogasa answered.

"I see. I'm going to be going to the City too. And I'm doing it tonight. Yusei said.

"Tonight?"

"Yeah. Every month or so at midnight, they shut down a pipeline that send trash here to Satellite for maintenance. And I only have 3 minutes before the trash starts coming in again."

"Okay I get that, but what are you going to the city for?" Kurogasa asked.

"Well, there was this friend of mine. His name is Jack. One day he stole one of my most important cards and ran off to the City. I'm going to make him answer for what he did and I'll take my card back." Yusei said.

"I see." Kurogasa said.

"Well, I'd better get ready. I hope your runner gets done soon. If we meet up in the city, I'll help you look for your memories." Yusei said.

"Yeah, I'd like that. Thanks Yusei." Kurogasa replied and with that Yusei left.

That night at around 11:00, Yusei was on his duel runner and everyone else gathered at the edge of the station.

"You sure you want to go through this?" Blitz asked.

"A test run maybe one thing, but the real thing is something else." Nervin pointed out.

"Don't worry about it Yuse. Just hit the gas and don't ever look back." Tank said.

"Oh, almost forgot!" Rally ran up to Yusei, reached into his pocket and gave him a card. "Here, for good luck."

"What is it, Rally?" Yusei asked as he took the card and looked at it.

"Turbo Booster. But wasn't this your father's card?" Yusei asked.

"Mm-hmm. I want you to take it. Like my dad always says, you'll never know when you might need a boost. I just hope it'll help get back your Stardust Dragon from Jack."

_'Stardust Dragon? Is that the card Yusei may be talking about?'_ Kurogasa thought.

Yusei slides Rally's card into his deck and puts on his helmet before leaving, "You gonna be on the monitor?"

"Mhm, we'll go topside so we can get a clear signal." Nervin said.

"Rev it up Yusei!" Rally cheered.

"And don't slow down for nothin'." Blitz added. Yusei nodded as he put on his red helmet and glanced at Kurogasa.

"Kurogasa, I'll be waiting for you in the city." Yusei said.

"Yeah. Good luck Yusei." Kurogasa said. And with that, Yusei sped off through the station.

Kurogasa and the gang then went to the top of a building to get a clear signal on Yusei with the laptop. As they were watching him for a certain amount of minutes on the laptop, Yusei was dodging the trash coming in the pipeline.

"C'mon Yusei get there!" Kurogasa cheered.

"You can do it!" Rally cried.

"Watch out for that garbage!" Nervin warned.

"Go Yusei!" Tank cheered as well.

"Don't stop!" Blitz yelled. Then they all cheered happily when they saw Yusei making it through the hatch.

"He did it!" Rally cheered.

"Yusei actually made it to New Domino City!" Tank yelled.

"I never doubted that for a second." Nervin added.

"You did it Yusei. You did it." Blitz said. Kurogasa just smiled. Then Rally looked at Kurogasa.

"You know what Kurogasa? I'm gonna help you get to the City. In fact, we'll all help you do that and help get your memories back." Rally said.

"Yeah. If Yusei can get to the city, then so can I." Kurogasa said determined.

A couple hours later after all the excitement and everyone else went home, Kurogasa was sleeping on the couch in the shack until suddenly his right arm starts to throb in pain. He woke up suddenly feeling it and held on to his arm.

_'Urgh, this pain. What is this?'_ Kurogasa asked himself. Next thing he knew, he needed to go outside. Why he needed to, he doesn't even know, but for some reason he had to. He went out of the subway and there he saw a red light but the buildings were blocking it. So, he ran on the street so he can see the light clearly and it was fading fast. His right arm continued to throb in pain, but he can't stop now. He had to keep going.

Finally, he got to a street where he can see a decent view of New Domino City. When he saw it, his eyes widened when he saw the sky in a crimson color over at a portion of the metropolis and then it gradually faded and then his arm stopped throbbing.

"What...just happened? First, my arm starts to throb in pain, then I see a red light over New Domino City, and after that my arm stopped hurting when that light faded. Just what is going on?"

(1)-From the depths of a dark heart, let the light shine on your heart with its blessing! Synchro Summon! Appear, Haos Lars Lion!

Yeah, I know it's a long chapter and I know the duel was very short, but it was worth it. Don't forget to review! 


	5. Chapter 4: Sector Security on Pursuit

Hope you guys like my Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's story now because things are going to get a whole lot better. It's for Chapter 4 of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Stardust Accelerator. Just a heads up, there is going to be a very long duel, so bear with me.

Disclaimer: Same as last time

Chapter 4: Sector Security on Pursuit

A few days have passed since that incident and Kurogasa thought it best not to tell Rally and others. If he told them, they might think that Yusei is in trouble.

Kurogasa, Blitz, Tank, and Nervin were working on the runner. They already installed the minor stuff like the headlights and they were painting it too. The color of the Omega Frame with the pair of wings was now silver with gold edges. And to add the finish, Kurogasa painted a gold circle on both sides on the back of the runner and another on the front by spray painting it and painted the Haos symbol the gold circles white using a small-medium sized paintbrush. Kurogasa then put his silver blade duel disk on the runner too.

"Whew!" Kurogasa whistled. "All done!" He said and took a few steps back to look at it.

"It looks great!" Tank said.

"Yeah, not bad." Blitz added.

Just then Rally comes running in the station. "Kurogasa! You down here?" Rally asked.

"Over here." Kurogasa said. Rally then ran up to him near his duel runner. "What's up?" He asked.

"I got something for ya. I know you're gonna like it." Rally said as he was getting something out from inside his jacket and then he showed it. The group was shocked to see what Rally brought.

"It's a CPU! And it's a KPC-000!" Kurogasa exclaimed.

"Isn't that like the best CPU out of all of the other ones?" Tank asked.

"Yeah it is." Kurogasa said.

"Where did you get this?" Blitz asked.

"You didn't steal it did ya?" Nervin added.

"Steal?" Kurogasa asked.

"Yeah, one day he stole an acceleration chip for Yusei for his duel runner. If you weren't for him, Sector Security would've caught all of us." Nervin explained.

"Geez, you didn't need to bring that up. But I didn't steal anything. It was just lying on the ground. Maybe someone dropped it." Rally said.

"You know how things are here Rally: no one leaves nothing just lying around." Tank said.

"Relax guys. Let me see it Rally." Kurogasa said. Rally gave the CPU to him and Kurogasa started to install it. After a few keystrokes on the laptop while installing it, the duel runner came to life. "Alright, it works!"

"I knew you would like it! Let's see how powerful it is." Rally said excited. Kurogasa nodded and gave one twist on the hand pedal and a deafening loud roar echoed throughout the subway station.

"Now that's what I call power." Kurogasa said impressed.

"Oh almost forgot, I also got you this." Rally said as he reached in his jacket and handed him a device. "It's a wrist dealer, you can use that to hold cards while turbo dueling." Rally said.

"Tell me you didn't steal that too, did ya?" Nervin complained.

"Stop it, Nervin. Thanks Rally, you're a great help." Kurogasa thanked.

"No prob."

"Now that the runner's done, know a place where I can test it?" Kurogasa asked.

"There's an old highway that's just south of here. You can test it there." Rally said.

"Got it." Kurogasa said. And with that, he got his helmet that he also made for the past few days and went to his duel runner. His helmet was made from junk parts he and the others found in Satellite. The style was similar Jack Atlas's helmet, but different and the tip was shorter and it was also silver. He puts on his helmet and started the engine. He then sped off out of the station and into the streets.  
He was driving for a few more minutes until he got to the entrance of the Old Highway. Some of the road was cracked and it even has a few potholes due to urban decay. But Kurogasa was up for it.

"Time to see what this runner can really do." Kurogasa said to himself. He then twisted on the handle and stepped on the pedal a few times making the engine roar loudly and then he went on the highway. As he was driving, he was slowly accelerating and gaining speed as he was speeding through the old and cracked pavement.

"So far, so good." He said and then he really hit the gas and went faster than ever dodging the crack and potholes on the road.

"Yeah! Now that's what I'm talking about!" Kurogasa shouted happily as he continued to speed on the Old Highway. When he finished, he got off the road and took off his helmet.

"Wow. That was good." Kurogasa said to himself. "Well, I better get back to Rally and the others." Kurogasa kicked his motorcycle into gear and went back to the subway. When he got back, Rally and the others were waiting for him and parked the runner near the entrance and took off his helmet.

"Hey Kurogasa! How was the ride?" Rally asked.

"Great! I definitely got some speed out of that runner." Kurogasa answered.

"That's good." Rally said.

"And I'm planning on getting to New Domino City by going through the same way Yusei did." Kurogasa said.

"You gonna go through the Pipeline too?" Tank asked.

"Yeah."

"Well, you're gonna have to wait another month before the next maintenance. And it's gonna be a while." Blitz reminded him.

"I can wait. Besides, I gotta practice on the runner anyway. And I only got a month to it."

Just then, sirens could be heard near the entrance of the subway. Excluding Kurogasa, everyone knew what that meant.

"Oh crap, it's Sector Security!" Tank exclaimed.

"Identification # AWX-86007! Rally Dawson! This is Officer Trudge! We know you're in there! You're under arrest for theft for a CPU and a wrist dealer! We got you surrounded! Don't be stupid to try to escape!" He said from the megaphone.

"Rally!" Nervin snapped.

"What? I told you I didn't steal anything!" Rally defended himself.

"That doesn't matter! Remember what happened last time when you did this with Yusei?" Blitz yelled.

"Calm down guys!" Kurogasa said and looked at Rally with disappointment. "Okay, so the CPU and wrist dealer was stolen, right?" He asked.

"Okay, so I stole it. But I did it to help you." Rally said.

"C'mon, you should know better than that." Kurogasa said. Rally had his head down in shame. "Alright, I'll let it slide only because you've been helping me for these past couple weeks. But don't do that again." He sighed. Rally then lifted his head and smiled.

"You got it!" Rally said.

"Okay. Now how are we going to get Rally out of here?" Kurogasa asked.

"Rally has a small yellow mark near his left eye we call a 'Marker.' That mark can track Rally's signal anywhere." Tank said.

"But there is a way to block it." Nervin said and we went into the shack to get the laptop and came back. "The last time this happened, Yusei had a program that can jam the signal." He explained as he was typing fast.

"Get out here! Or we'll arrest you by force!" Officer Trudge warned.

"Hurry up Nervin!" Tank said.

"I'm going, I'm going." Nervin said typing as fast as he could. "Okay, I got the jamming program started. It should go off in a minute." Nervin said.

"Good, you guys escape. I'll distract Security and lead them away from you to the Old Highway." Kurogasa said.

"All right, be careful. "Rally said and then he and the others ran to safety. Kurogasa then gets on his duel runner and puts on his helmet and wrist dealer and then slides in his deck.

"It's go time."

Meanwhile, two security officers and Officer Trudge were waiting outside. Suddenly, the machine used to track down Rally was malfunctioning.

"Sir! The signal is being jammed!" The officer said.

"What?" Trudge exclaimed. "Don't tell me that Satellite scum Yusei is back already!" And as if on cue, Kurogasa's duel runner shot out of the stairway and past Trudge and his colleagues. The officers moved out of the way and watched the bike in shock as it swerved, performing a U-turn with ease before racing past them again and down the street. Trudge roared at the sight, more than simply unimpressed that Rally had found another Turbo Duelist to hide behind.

"A duel runner? Where did that come from? Don't just stand there, after him!" Trudge ordered. Trudge got on his runner and the other officers got in the car and were chasing Kurogasa. Kurogasa looked behind and saw them chasing him.

"Perfect, they're taking the bait." Kurogasa said to himself. He stepped on the pedal and twisted one of the hand pedals and then went faster.

"What the- this guy is fast." Trudge said to himself as he and the police car went faster as well. Kurogasa then pulled the brakes on the runner and stopped near the entrance of the Old Highway. Trudge stopped his runner as well and the car followed.

The officers that were in the car got out and Trudge took off his helmet.

"So the kid found himself another Turbo Duelist to hide behind, huh?" Trudge asked. Kurogasa also took off his helmet.

"I take it that you must be Officer Trudge." Kurogasa said.

"And you must be one of Rally's friends. Where is he? And why do you have a duel runner?" Trudge asked.

"That's for me to know and for you to never find out."

"Heh... So you won't talk eh?" Trudge said.

"Oh I'll talk..." Kurogasa said. "That is... If you beat me in a duel." He added. Trudge just laughed at that.

"Think you can outduel Sector Security, huh? Well, that's too bad. You Satellite scums can't carry cards anyways." Kurogasa then took his deck off his wrist dealer and showed it.

"Well, some rules are meant to be broken." Kurogasa said and puts his deck back in the wrist dealer. "I'll make a deal with you. You and me go head-to-head in a turbo duel. If I win, Rally and I stay free. No ifs, ands, or buts about it." Kurogasa offered. One if the officers then intervened.

"The law does not negotiate with-"

"And what's in it for me if I win?" Trudge asked cutting the officer off.

"But Article 4-B clearly states that-"

"Shove it, or I'll put you on mall patrol!" Trudge threatened. The officer kept his mouth then. "So, what happens if I win?"

"If you win, then I'll tell them that it was me that stole the CPU and wrist dealer and Rally was helping me and that we tried to flee the scene, but you caught us. Something like that could promote you to Sergeant, maybe even higher. And I'll throw a bonus in. I'll even hand over my deck and duel runner and I'll lead you guys to Rally to catch him and then I'll turn myself in. No questions asked."

"Heh that Satellite scum Yusei made that same kind of deal and I lost. What makes you think I will agree to your deal?" Trudge asked.

"C'mon we both know that you'd do anything to get your promotion to Sergeant. And you love to arrest people like me and Rally because it's your job as an officer of Sector Security."

Trudge was thinking about this for a while and then he came up with an answer.

"Alright punk, you got yourself a deal." Trudge said then looked at the other officers. "You two go back to Command Central. This won't take long. Go now, before I make both of you go on mall patrol." The officers without a word got back in the car and drove off. Soon after, Trudge and Kurogasa's duel runners were next to each other and were about to Turbo Duel on the Old Highway.

"Get ready to lose Satellite. You're gonna regret making that deal." Trudge sneered.

"We'll see about that." Kurogasa said. Trudge just scoffed.

"Fi-rudo Maho! Supido Warudo! Setto on (1)!" Trudge said as he pressed a button on his duel runner.

"DUEL MODE. AUTOPILOT ON. STAND BY."

The words 'DUEL MODE' appeared on both screens and the screens then showed the playing field and their speed counters. Each speed counter on Kurogasa's screen had the Haos symbol on there. Then a purple aura shot out of both duel runners and the entire area was now purple and different neon color outlines of everything that surrounded them. The two duelists were ready to duel and then they sped off on to the Old Highway.

"RIDING DUEL, ACCELERATION!"

**Trudge:** 4000/**SPC:** 0

**Kurogasa:** 4000/**SPC:** 0

"Ore no sentou (2)!" Kurogasa said as he drew a card from his hand. "I summon my Haos Centipoid in defense mode!" He said as he placed the card sideways on the duel disk and a large white centipede with red eyes and many yellow insect legs appeared (2) (ATK: 800/DEF: 1000). "Next I'll throw two facedowns and end my turn."

"That all you can do? Heh, I can do better. Ore no ta-n!" Trudge drew a card from his deck.

**Trudge's SPC:** 1

**Kurogasa's SPC:** 1

"I summon my Search Striker in attack mode!" Trudge said. A man in a blue coat and grey helmet covering his face holding twin long-ranged guns in his hands appeared (4) (ATK: 1600/DEF: 1200). "Now attack that insect!" He ordered. Search Striker pointed his two long guns at Centipoid and fired. Centipoid was destroyed and turned into pixels, but then Search Striker turned into pixels.

"What the- what just happened?" Trudge asked in shock.

"Haos Centipoid's ability is what happened. If Centipoid gets destroyed, the monster that attacked it also gets destroyed." Kurogasa explained.

"I'll place a facedown and end my turn." Trudge growled.

"Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa said as he drew a card.

**Trudge's SPC:** 2

**Kurogasa's SPC:** 2

"Just what I need. First, I'll activate the Birthright trap card! It lets me summon a monster back from my graveyard in attack position. So I bring back my Centepoid!" The trap card glowed and the large white centipede then appeared back on the field. Then I summon the tuner monster, Haos El Condor!" The shaman like creature with the Aztec mask appeared (3)(ATK: 1300/DEF: 1000). "And when he's summoned successfully, I can change one monster's level on my side of the field to the needed level for tuning. So I change my Centipoid's level to 3." El Condor glowed with energy and it went to the centipede.

Haos Centepoid's Level: 3

"And now I tune my now level 3 Centipoid with my level 3 El Condor!" Kurogasa said. El Condor turned into 3 rings and Centipoid turned into 3 balls of light.

"_Kurayami no naka kara sekai o mamoru tame ni , hikari ga purotekutā to kyuuseishu ni naru you! Shinkuro Shokan! Ideyo, Haos Aranaut_ (3)!"

The balls of light lined up in the tunnel of rings and a beam shot out. When the light faded, a white and yellow armored ninja-like man appeared (6)(ATK: 2000/DEF: 2000).

"You're gonna have to do better than that, because I activate my trap, Bottomless Trap Hole! If a monster with 1500 or more attack points is summoned, it can destroy and remove that monster." Trudge said with a smirk. A hole appeared below and was about to suck Aranaut in.

"I don't think so, because I'm revealing my other facedown, Destruction Jammer! By sending one card from my hand to the graveyard, I can negate the effects of a Monster, Spell, or Trap and destroy it. A small explosion destroyed the hole and Aranaut was safe. "Now Haos Aranaut attack directly on Trudge's life points. Aranaut came towards Trudge and did an acrobatic kick.

**Trudge:** 2000/**SPC:** 0

**Kurogasa:** 4000/**SPC:** 2

Trudge's runner wobbled for a while, but the officer was able to regain his balance.

"I'll end my turn from there." Kurogasa said.

You Satellite trash! You're gonna pay for that! Ore no ta-n!" Trudge said and drew a card.

**Trudge's SPC:** 1

**Kurogasa's SPC:** 3

"One, two, three." Trudge said as he discarded three cards from his hand to the graveyard. "I discard my Level 4 Assault Hound, Level 3 Guard Dog, and Level 3 Tactical Espionage Expert to Special Summon Montage Dragon!" He yelled. A huge blue dragon with three heads wearing silver armor on their heads appeared (8) (ATK:?/DEF: 0). "And here's the best part. My Montage Dragon gains attack points equal to combined levels of the monsters sent to the graveyard by 300. The levels all together are 10 which means it gets 3000 attack points!"

Montage Dragon: (ATK: 3000/DEF: 0)

"This can't be good." Kurogasa said.

"Damn right for you, that is. Montage Dragon, attack Haos Aranaut with Power Collage!" Trudge commanded. The three heads opened their mouths and fired a pink, yellow, and blue at Aranaut and the ninja turned into pixels.

**Trudge:** 2000/**SPC:** 1

**Kurogasa:** 3000/**SPC:** 2

"I end my turn." Trudge chuckled.

"Grr… Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa said and drew his card.

**Trudge's SPC:** 2

**Kurogasa's SPC:** 3

"First, I activate a Speed Spell. Go! Angel Baton! If I have two or more Speed Counters, I can draw two cards from my deck, but I have to discard one." Kurogasa drew his two cards and then discarded one to the graveyard.

"Now I summon my Haos Juggernoid in defense mode!" A white and yellow colored reptilian like turtle appeared (4) (ATK: 1000/DEF: 2000). "Then I'll place a face down and end my turn."

"Ore no ta-n!" Trudge said and drew his card.

**Trudge's SPC:** 3

**Kurogasa's SPC**: 4

"Montage Dragon! Attack his Haos Juggernoid with Power Collage!" Trudge ordered. The dragon did the same attack and was about to hit the turtle.

"Activate trap! Go Totem Pole!" Kurogasa said as he revealed the trap card. A totem of 3 sections appeared and one section was destroyed. "Sorry, but this trap can stop your attacks up to three times. That was only one." Kurogasa said.

"Just you wait Satellite, in two turns, you're gonna be wide open and once I beat you, I'm going to lock you up." Trudge promised.

"That is if you can beat me in that time!" Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa said as he drew his card.

**Trudge's SPC:** 4

**Kurogasa's SPC:** 5

"Now I release my Haos Juggernoid to Advance Summon Haos Tuskor!" Kurogasa said. A white and yellow elephant creature with a nose that has teeth at the end of it appeared (5) (ATK: 2000/DEF: 2000). "And I'll end my turn."

"You're just stalling. Ore no ta-n!" Trudge said and drew his card.

**Trudge's SPC:** 5

**Kurogasa's SPC**: 6

"Nice. Time to kick this hot pursuit to the next level. I activate the Speed Spell, Sonic Buster! I can only activate it if I have 4 or more Speed Counters. Half of one of my monster's attack points gets dealt to you. In this case, it's Montage Dragon. The Speed Spell glowed pink, went to Montage Dragon and then connected to Kurogasa.

**Trudge:** 2000/**SPC:** 5

**Kurogasa**: 1500/**SPC:** 5

"Montage Dragon. Attack again!" Trudge said. The same events happened again. Only this time, the second section of the totem pole was destroyed. "Just one more turn, then I'll beat you."

"Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa said as he drew a card and looked at it.

**Trudge's SPC**: 6

**Kurogasa's SPC:** 6

_'I need this card but I'm gonna need the 'other' card to win this duel.'_ Kurogasa thought. "I pass on this turn."

"That's right. Go ahead and end your turn. Ore no ta-n!" Trudge said and drew another card from his deck.

**Trudge's SPC:** 7

**Kurogasa's SPC:** 7

Montage Dragon, attack that final section!" Trudge said and the blue dragon did just that. "Alright, now that your totem pole is destroyed, I can attack you again once your turn is over so go and make your final move." Trudge said with confidence.

_'Don't fail me now deck. I just need you to give the card I need.'_ Kurogasa thought. "Ore no… ta-n!" He said and drew his card.

**Trudge's SPC:** 8

**Kurogasa's SPC:** 8

Kurogasa looked at the card and then smirked. "It's over." He said.

"What?" Trudge asked.

"I said it's over. I just drew the card needed to win this turbo duel and this card will sure Rally and I stay free. First I summon the Tuner Monster, Haos Monarus in attack mode!" A white and yellow butterfly-fairy like creature appeared on the field (3) (ATK: 1000/DEF: 1200). "And when she's successfully summoned, I gain 500 life points for every card in my opponent's hand. You have 4 cards, so I gain 2000 points plus two Speed Counters." The butterfly fairy glowed with energy, Trudge's cards that were in his hand glowed with energy and then all of that transferred to Kurogasa.

**Trudge:** 2000/**SPC:** 8

**Kurogasa:** 3500/**SPC:** 10

"Now I tune my level 5 Tuskor with my level 3 Monarus!" Kurogasa said. Monarus turned into 3 rings and Tuskor turned into 5 balls of light. The balls of light were going in the tunnel of rings as Kurogasa was doing the chant.

"_Shinzou no tamashii ga , piasu no hikari o kensaku to yami o uchikudaku! Shinkuro Shokan! Araware o, Haos Omega Leonidas!_"

A beam then shot out of the tunnel of rings and then the white and yellow dragon, his ace monster appeared (8)(ATK: 3000/DEF: 2500).

"Hah! You've got to be joking! Our dragons have the same attack points. You can't win like that!" Trudge said.

"You're right, I can't. But once I play this card, you'll be finished. I play the Speed Spell, Wheelie Breaker!"

"What?" Trudge said in shock.

"That's right. This is the card I drew. If I have 6 or more Speed Counters I can destroy face-up monsters on your side of the field. In other words, say goodbye to your Montage Dragon!" Kurogasa said as he turned his duel runner around and ran over Montage Dragon destroying it into dust just like in the picture of the Speed Spell: a motorcycle running over some monsters and then Kurogasa went behind Trudge.

"Sorry Officer Trudge, but Rally and I are staying free. Omega Leonidas, finish him off with Omega Eraser!" Kurogasa yelled. The dragon then opened its mouth and fired a large blue beam at Trudge. Trudge screamed as his life points depleted.

**Trudge:** 0/**SPC:** 5

**Kurogasa:** 3500/**SPC:** 10

Trudge's screen then showed a big red X then smoke came out of his runner then it automatically stopped. Kurogasa stopped as well.

"Looks like I win this one." Kurogasa said.

"There's goes my promotion. How did I lose to a Satellite punk?" Trudge asked himself angrily.

"I'll tell you how. That promotion was all you ever thought about. You wanted to beat me so badly just you could get your promotion. As the saying goes: Greed imprisons us all (4). Your greediness for your promotion is what caused you to lose the duel. Now, if you excuse me, I'm gonna be running free now and enjoy this duel runner. See ya next duel!" Kurogasa grinned and waved as he drove off on the highway. Trudge growled and banged on his runner with his fist.

"Oh, I'll see you next duel. Just you wait Satellite punk. I'll be coming for you!" Trudge said to himself.

(1)- Field Spell! Speed World! Set on!

(2)- I'll go first!

(3)- To protect the world from darkness, let light become its protector and savior! Synchro Summon! Show yourself! Haos Aranaut!

(4)- Just for a little trivia guess where that saying came from. Hint: It's from one of the Rush Hour movies.


	6. Chapter 5: Bug Problem

It's time for Chapter 5 of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Stardust Accelerator. Hope you like this chapter. Enjoy! Just telling you now, a duel that's about to occur will be short. I repeat, it will be short.

Disclaimer: Same thing.

Chapter 5: Bug Problem

A couple days has passed since the duel with Trudge. Kurogasa was driving through the entire subway on his duel runner and then stopped at the station. Rally was there doing the timing and then Rally pressed the stopwatch as soon as Kurogasa halted.

"Wow Kurogasa! That's your best timing yet! A minute and a half! That's half the time needed! I know you'll _definitely_ get through the Pipeline with that kind of speed!" Rally exclaimed.

"Yeah, but there's always room for improvement." Kurogasa pointed out.

Footsteps were coming towards the entrance of the subway and then Blitz, Nervin, and Tank showed up and they were bruised too.

"Guys! What happened?" Rally cried as he and Kurogasa came up to them.

"Lenny… He's the one that started it. We got into a fight." Blitz said.

"We were just working over at the Recycling Center until he started." Nervin added.

"You were the one that ticked him off." Tank complained.

"Okay guys, hold on. Before you go at each other's throats, tell me from the beginning. Starting with Tank." Kurogasa said.

"Alright, it started from when we were working at the Recycling Center…" Tank said.

*****Flashback- at the Satellite Recycling Center*

_"OK, Blitz, your turn." Nervin said._

_"I'm thinking a cheeseburger with bacon and extra onion rings!"_

_"Whoa, don't forget the French fries and an extra-thick milkshake!" Tank added._

_"Ha-ha, good one!"_

_"Or lemonade!" Nervin said._

_"Mmm, but nothing beats dipping hot French fries into a cold chocolate shake. It really brings out the flavor! Oh, I can dream about it! So guys, you think we'll ever taste a real cheeseburg-who-oha" But before Tank can finish his sentence, he fell onto the floor, flat on his face._

_"Tank! What happened?" Dropping their stuff on the spot, Blitz and Nervin rushed to helped their fallen friend._

_"Ugh...I fell." Tank groaned._

_"On the contrary; it's actually called "tripped'." The source of Tank's falling came from an outstretched leg, which came from a young man with blue hair, wearing a black jean jacket with an old necklace around his neck. The guy, whose name is Lenny, was accompanied by two of his cronies. One is a little more big-boned than Tank is, but other than that, he has brown hair and shades on. His name was Lug. The other one__has black hair in a weird hairdo. He has his right hand signaled out the letter L. His name was Larry._

_"Heh, it looks like he scuffed up your shoe really bad. Whaddaya think he should do about it?" Lag asked. Larry only responded by cackling._

_"How about he buys me a new pair of kicks and we call it even?" Lenny insisted, "I wear a size: 11."_

_"You'll get nothing, ya got that?" Nervin complained, "Unless you want a bruise to match that mark on your face. It'd be an improvement."_

_"Grr, I'll show you an improvement!" Nervin's biggest mistake was ticking off Lenny, especially when he was reminded of the criminal mark on his right cheek. And to prove his point, Lenny took a handful of Nervin's collar so he wouldn't get away; Nervin was regretting his words now._

_"Uh, guys, a little help?" But it was too late for Nervin when Lenny..._

_POW!_

"We got really bruised during that fight." Nervin said.

"That's because you ticked him off big time. Anyways, soon after, the other workers broke up us and our boss told us to just go home." Blitz finished.

"Seriously guys, you need to be more careful." Rally sighed as he finished treating them to their injuries.

"So what are you going to do now?" Kurogasa asked.

"I don't know. I might as well gonna have to give him a new pair of shoes." Tank groaned.

"That's right. And you're gonna have to give it to me now." A voice said.

*****Cackling*

Kurogasa and the gang turned around only to see Lenny and his two cronies coming down the stairs from the entrance of the subway.

"So, are you gonna give him a new pair of shoes or what?" Lug asked. Larry only cackled.

"Forget it! He's not giving you anything!" Nervin snapped.

"You shut your mouth! Thanks to you guys, our salaries are cut due to that incident at work!" Lenny yelled. He then noticed Kurogasa's duel runner. "Nice runner you got there. How about this? You give me that runner, and we'll call it even." Lenny offered. "How much is it?"

"Sorry, but the runner is not for sale." Blitz said.

"You're not getting this runner." Kurogasa added.

"Fine. I get it. I might as well go topside and tell Sector Security that you have an illegal duel runner here." Lenny said. Larry laughed at that and Lug just smiled.

"You wouldn't!" Tank exclaimed.

"Oh, he would." Lug said.

"Alright, that's it." Kurogasa said and went to get the silver blade duel disk off of his runner and his deck out of his deck box. "How about this? We'll duel for the duel runner. If you win, you get to keep it and I'll even hand you my deck as a bonus." Kurogasa said showing his deck. "But if _I_ win, you leave here and you must promise not to tell Sector Security about this." He offered.

"Hmph. Fine. You got yourself a deal." Lenny said.

"Kurogasa! What are you doing?" Rally asked.

"Don't duel him." Nervin averted.

"He's just a bully." Blitz added.

"And bullies never learn." Kurogasa finished. "Don't worry guys, I'll be fine." He reassured them. Lug and Larry moved out of the way. Rally and company did the same so Lenny and Kurogasa can duel. Lenny then took out his grey duel disk and attached it to his left arm. Kurogasa did the same. The two inserted their decks in their deck slots and the duel disks activated and the duelists drew their five cards.

"DUEL!"

**Kurogasa: **4000

**Lenny: **4000

"I'll go first!" Lenny said and drew a card from his deck. "First, I'll summon my Cross-Sword Beetle in attack mode!" A big beetle with 4 large mandibles that are sharp as swords appeared (4) (ATK: 1800/DEF: 1200). "Then I'll play my Insect Imitation spell card! This lets summon an Insect Monster that is one level higher than the Monster I tribute to summon it. So, I release my Level 4 Cross-Sword Beetle to Special Summon Ultimate Insect Lv.5 from my hand!"

The beetle got bigger, as in fatter. It grew and grew, until the beetle let out a piercing scream and exploded only to reveal a large blue insect on 4 long legs (5) (ATK: 2300/DEF: 900). "Then I'll place two facedowns and end my turn. Try to top that." Lenny said.

"Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa said and drew a card from his deck. "First, I'll activate the field spell, Haos Reactor!" The ground glowed with light and balls of light of different colors rose from the ground. "For every light monster I summon, that monster gains 500 attack points. Now I summon my Haos Robattalion in attack mode!" A white and yellow robot showed on the field (2) (ATK: 900/DEF: 400). "And on the turn, it's summoned, its attack points double." The robot was surging with energy as he powered up.

Haos Robattalion- (ATK: 1800/DEF: 400)

"And thanks to Haos Reactor, it gains another 500."

"Haos Robattalion- (ATK: 2300/DEF: 400)

"Next I play the spell, Double Summon! This lets me summon another monster this turn. So I summon my Haos Siege in attack mode too!" A knight with a white long staff with the golden celestial symbol appeared (4) (ATK: 1900/DEF: 1400). "Haos Siege gets another 500 attack points thanks to my field spell."

Haos Siege- (ATK: 2400/DEF: 1400)

"Haos Robattalion, attack Ultimate Insect!" Kurogasa ordered. The robot fired a beam from its chest while Ultimate Insect charged at Robattalion the beam hit but the insect still charges at the robot and then both were destroyed and shattered into pixels. "Now for the direct attack. Haos Siege, attack his life points directly!" Kurogasa commanded. The knight ran towards Lenny with his staff ready to stab him.

"I activate my trap, Dimensional Prison! If you attack, then your monster gets removed from play." A portal opened up and Haos Siege went in; never to return again. Kurogasa gritted his teeth as he took the card off of his disk and put it in his pocket to show it was removed from play.

"Ha-ha! I can't believe he fell for that!" Lug laughed. Larry just cackled away.

"I'll place a face down and end my turn." Kurogasa said.

"Now it's my move!" Lenny said as he drew a card. " I summon my Pinch Hopper in attack mode!" A medium-sized grasshopper then appeared on the field (4) (ATK: 1000/DEF: 1200). "Then I play the spell card Insect Costume. First I send one insect monster from my hand to the graveyard." Lenny then discarded a card. "Then I add an insect type monster from my deck to my hand." Lenny then did that. "And then I destroy an insect monster on my side of the field, which would be my Pinch Hopper!" The grasshopper was then destroyed into pixels.

"But that's not all. If Pinch Hopper gets destroyed, then I can special summon an insect monster from my hand. So I summon my Metal Armored Bug!" A really large bug-like creature covered in a grey thick armor appeared (8) (ATK: 2800/DEF: 1500). "Now I play my other facedown, Monster Reborn! This lets me bring a monster back from either graveyard. So I bring back my Ultimate Insect Lv.7!" An evolved version of Ultimate Insect Lv. 5 appeared, only this time, it had wings (7) (ATK: 2600/DEF: 1200).

"And since you have no monsters to save you, you'll lose and I'll have your runner and deck in no time. Ultimate Insect, attack his points directly!" Lenny ordered. The large insect flew at Kurogasa and used its 3 large mandibles to attack him.

**Kurogasa**: 1400

**Lenny: **4000

"Kurogasa!" Rally cried.

"Oh man, not again. This is like what happened last time with that thug when we tried to get the duel runner." Tank groaned.

"Looks like I win this one. I'll be taking my runner and new deck once I'm done here. Metal Armored Bug, finish him off!" Lenny yelled. The huge armored bug went towards Kurogasa and was about to ram him.

"If this hits, Kurogasa is done for." Blitz said.

"And he won't be able to get to New Domino City." Nervin added.

"DO IT!" Lenny yelled. Lug and Larry laughed at the sight of Kurogasa about to be beaten.

"KUROGASA!" The group yelled.

"I activate my facedown! Mirror Force!" Kurogasa said revealing his facedown.

"No way!" Lenny shouted in disbelief. Lug and Larry's jaws just dropped. "Sorry, but if you attack me with a monster it get sent right back at ya and all monsters in attack position are destroyed." Kurogasa said. A mirror-like force field surrounded Kurogasa and the huge bug hit the shield. The armored bug then bounced back due to the mirror-like force field and flew towards Ultimate Insect and both were destroyed.

"Yeah!" Rally said excited.

"Whew! That was close." Nervin said.

"I thought he was done for." Tank said.

"I can't believe it! I was so close to winning!" Lenny said.

"Yeah, you're close, yet so far. Now that that's over with, I can take you out now. Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa said and drew a card from his deck. Kurogasa just smiled and started to chuckle.

"What's so funny?" Lenny asked.

"Oh man, you're _so_ done for. I just drew the card needed to win. First I summon my Haos Ravenoid in attack mode!" A white and yellow humanoid-raven with wings on its back appeared (4) (ATK: 1500/DEF: 1200). "Next I play the spell card, Rapid Haos! This lets me summon a light monster from my hand or deck as long as I have a light monster on the field. And I special summon my Haos Falconeer from my deck!" A white and yellow humanoid falcon with wings on its back appeared (4) (ATK: 1600/DEF: 1400).

"And don't Haos Reactor's effect. Every light monster I summon gets 500 attack points." Kurogasa reminded.

Haos Ravenoid- (ATK: 2000/DEF: 1200)

Haos Falconeer- (ATK: 2100/DEF: 1400)

"Now I play the spell card that will end this duel! Go! Lightwave Tuning! With this card, if I have a level 4 light monster on the field, I can make that a Tuner Monster. Since I have two level 4 light monsters, I'll choose my Haos Ravenoid." Ravenoid glowed green as it was given the powers of a Tuner.

"Is that what I _think_ he's doing?" Rally asked.

"Yeah, it is!" Blitz said.

"Kurogasa's going to-" Tank began.

"Tune the level 4 Falconeer with the level 4 Ravenoid!" Kurogasa said finishing Tank's sentence. Ravenoid turned into 4 green rings and Falconeer turned into 4 balls of light. The balls of light lined up and went into the tunnel of rings.

"_Shinzou no tamashii ga, piasu no hikari o kensaku to yami o uchikudaku__! Shinkuro Shoukan! Araware o, Haos Omega Leonidas!"_

A beam of light shot out of the tunnel of rings and when the light faded, the white and yellow dragon shown (8) (ATK: 3000/DEF: 2500). "First, my dragon gets an extra 500 point power boost."

Haos Omega Leonidas- (ATK: 3500/DEF: 2500)

"Now I'll activate his special ability! Once per turn, I can choose 1 light monster from my graveyard and half of the chosen monster's attack points gets added to Omega Leonidas attack points and I choose my Haos Falconeer!" a faint image of Falconeer appeared and went through Leonidas and then it gave the dragon power. "Falconeer's attack points was originally 1600. So half of that gets transferred to my dragon. Leonidas has 3500 attack points. Add it with the 800…" Kurogasa said.

"Oh crap! That means-" Lenny said.

"That's right you're done for." Kurogasa finished.

Haos Omega Leonidas- (ATK: 4300/DEF: 2500)

"Leonidas, attack Lenny's life points directly with Omega Eraser!" Kurogasa commanded. The dragon opened its mouth and fired a large blue laser from its mouth at Lenny. Lenny protected himself and screamed in defeat as his life points went down.

**Kurogasa:** 1400

**Lenny: **0

The holograms faded and the duelists put their decks and disks away. Rally and the others came up to Kurogasa. Lug and Larry still had their jaws dropped.

"You did it Kurogasa!" Rally said happily.

"Nice job man." Blitz added.

"Never doubted that you would win!" Nervin added.

"Now I don't have to give the guy new shoes!" Tank said relieved.

"Thanks guys." Kurogasa said then looked at Lenny and his two cronies. "Alright, I won the duel, so you better keep your end of the deal."

"I know, I know. Look I'm sorry that I bullied you guys. I was in Satellite for so long, I was constantly being reminded of my criminal mark all the time and I always get mad at being reminded." Lenny apologized.

"Yeah! You deserved it. You shouldn't have to take your anger out on anyone else!" Tank said.

"Tank!" Nervin snapped.

"What? It's true!"

"Look, I said I'm sorry alright? Anyways, I'll keep my end of the deal. I'll keep quiet about the duel runner and Tank was it? Don't worry about the new shoes. I can live with this pair. C'mon guys, let's get out of here." Lenny said. Lug and Larry followed and soon they were out of the station.

"Well, we won't be seeing them again." Blitz said.

"Yeah. Now that that's done, I want to keep on training on my runner for the Pipeline." Kurogasa said as he got his helmet puts it on and got on his duel runner. Rally reset the stopwatch with Blitz and the others watching.

"Ready Kurogasa?" Rally asked. Kurogasa nodded as he revved up the engines.

"Okay, then… GO!"

Kurogasa then sped off through the subway. And they continued that for the rest of the month.


	7. Chapter 6: Escape From Satellite

Now it is time for the great escape for Kurogasa to get to New Domino City. Hope you like this chapter. It's going to get intense now. And to warn you, that a duel in this chapter will be short again. Now let's get on with the chapter.

Disclaimer: Same old same old

Chapter 6: Escape from Satellite

The rest of the month flew by pretty fast. Kurogasa was ready to go to the Pipeline. After that month of training, he was fully ready. It was 11:30 at night, he was in the subway on his duel runner preparing to leave, and Rally and company were watching.

"You set to go?" Blitz asked.

"Yep. All set. You're gonna be watching me right?" Kurogasa asked.

"We're going topside to get a clear signal from there. So we'll be watching ya." Tank said.

"Good."

"Just try to avoid Sector Security and the trash will ya?" Nervin said.

"Relax Nervin, I'll be fine. They can't stop me from getting to New Domino City."

"It's gonna be really quiet around here. " Rally said.

"Don't worry. I'll find a way to come back here to visit you guys."

"You will?" Rally asked.

"Yeah. And that's a promise." Rally then took something out of his pocket. It was two cards and he gave it to him. "What is this?" Kurogasa asked.

"You might need this. It should come in handy." Rally said. Kurogasa was a little surprised.

"Hold on. This is Turbo Booster. Didn't you give this to Yusei?" Kurogasa asked.

"I have three copies. One is for Yusei and now one for you. I hope it helps you get to New Domino City. The other card should help too." Rally said. Kurogasa smiled and slid the cards in his deck.

"Thanks you guys, you've done so much for me for this past month. I don't know how to thank you more."

"The only thanks we need are you getting to New Domino City. That's enough thanks for us." Blitz said.

"Hmph. All right then, I won't let you guys down." Kurogasa said and puts on his helmet and then he started the runner. The engine roared and the screen came on ready to be used.

"Rev it up, Kurogasa!" Rally said.

"Say hi to Yusei for us will ya?" Tank asked. Kurogasa nodded. "I won't forget you guys." He said. Kurogasa then he twisted the handle, stepped on the pedal and sped off of the subway. He was driving for a while until he got up the stairs and then he was out on the streets and sped for the Pipeline. He was driving for half that time and everything around him, except his duel runner was quiet.

"So far, so good. I just gotta be careful not to get caught." Kurogasa said to himself. Then a siren sound was coming up slowly and was getting louder by the second. Kurogasa turned around and sure enough, Sector Security was on his tail. And to make things worse, it was Trudge chasing him.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going? Don't you know it's past curfew?" Trudge asked.

"Oh damn, not him again." Kurogasa groaned. Trudge caught up to him and he realized who it was.

"You again!" Trudge asked surprised. "Alright Satellite punk, you need to pull over right now!" Trudge demanded.

"Sorry, I don't have time for ya. See ya later!" Kurogasa waved before going faster and getting away from Trudge.

"Get back here!" Trudge yelled as he went after him. The two of them were going until they came up to a sewage plant and then alarm blared from there. _"WARNING! WARNING! YOU ARE ENTERING AN UNATHORIZED ZONE! TURN BACK, IMEDIATELY!"_

"Sorry, no can do." Kurogasa said as he sped up faster and jumped high above the gates and landed on the opposite side and continued to go on.

"Hanson, open the security gates and quick!" Trudge ordered on the intercom and on cue, the gates opened and Trudge continued to tail Kurogasa with each and every corner they turn. Kurogasa tried to shake him off, by going faster, but to no avail.

"Geez, Trudge just won't give up, would he?" Kurogasa asked himself.

"Alright, you Satellite trash, you're not getting away this time. This time, I'm definitely gonna lock you up big time! Fi-rudo Maho! Supido Warudo! Setto on!" Trudge said as pressed on a button on his duel runner.

"**DUEL MODE. AUTOPILOT ON. STAND BY."**

The words 'DUEL MODE' appeared on both screens and the screens then showed the playing field and their speed counters. A purple aura shot out of both duel runners while they were riding.

"What the- how did he-"

"Surprised? Well, I guess that's expected of you. You see that CPU that Rally stole, it can be hacked in and I can force you into a duel and the only way to break the connection is to beat me. With that and my Pursuit Deck, I'll be able to take you down and lock you up for good."

"Seriously, I don't have time for this. But you give me no choice but to beat you." Kurogasa said as he slides his deck into the wrist dealer and shuffled the cards. He then drew five cards and puts in the part of the wrist dealer where it can hold the hand.

"RIDING DUEL, ACCELERATION!"

**Kurogasa: **4000/**SPC:** 0

**Trudge: **4000/**SPC:** 0

"Ore no sentou!" Trudge said as he drew his card. "First I'll summon my Gate Blocker in defense mode!" A giant slab with an eye ornamented on it appeared (4) (ATK: 100/DEF: 2000). "And with that, I'll place a facedown and end my turn." Trudge finished placing a card facedown on the field.

"Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa said and drew his card.

**Kurogasa's SPC:** 0

**Trudge's SPC:** 1

"What the- my speed counters aren't lighting up. I was sure the runner was working right." Kurogasa said.

"What's wrong? Speed counters not going up?" Trudge asked with a smug smile on his face. "That's because as long as this card is on the field, you can't gain any speed counters. Which means you are stuck at neutral."

"Great, just what I need. Alright, if that's how you want it, then fine by me. I summon my Haos Robattalion in attack mode!" A white and yellow robot showed (2) (ATK: 900/DEF: 400). "And on the turn it's summoned, its attack points double until the end of the turn."

Haos Robattalion- (ATK: 1800/DEF: 400)

'_Alright Rally, this one is for you.'_ Kurogasa thought. "Now I special summon Turbo Booster!" Rally's favorite card then appeared on the field (1) (ATK: 0/DEF: 0).

"Robattalion, get on Turbo Booster!" Kurogasa commanded. The robot then planted its feet onto Turbo Booster's trend-arms… "Robattalion, release!" which fired away with Robattalion still on them. "Now I'm pretty sure you know what Turbo Booster's ability is."

"Yeah, I know. When you release Turbo Booster, one of my monsters gets destroyed, if it battles against the monster you summoned this turn. You're still gonna lose life points." Trudge said.

"Better than staying on neutral." Robattalion, attack!" Kurogasa commanded. Robattalion was able to destroy Gate Blocker with Turbo Booster, but Kurogasa still took the damage.

**Kurogasa: **3800/**SPC:** 0

**Trudge: **4000/**SPC:** 1

Kurogasa finally saw the pipeline that leads to the city. "Nice, I may still have enough time to get to the City." Kurogasa said to himself as he went in the Pipeline.

"Hanson! The suspect went into the waste disposal system! Switch to the security cameras there! Don't lose him!" Trudge said on the intercom and he went in as well. Kurogasa looked on his screen and checked the clock. It was already midnight.

"Geez, it's midnight already. I only got three minutes to do this." Kurogasa said. Trudge was then able to catch up to him. "Oh, there you are. I thought you given up already. Guess I was wrong."

"Don't think that you can outrun me you Satellite trash, I won't let you get away so easily. I activate my trap, Broken Blocker! When a Gate Blocker is destroyed by a weaker monster, I can bring out two more to the field from my deck." Trudge explained as the trap glowed, a beam shot out of it and two more Gate Blockers appeared.

"Great, more roadblocks." Kurogasa said displeased.

"What made you break curfew tonight huh? Don't you know that Satellite scum like you can't fit in New Domino City?"

"I'm not going to 'fit in.'" Kurogasa answered.

"Then why are you going there then huh?" Trudge asked.

"Like I said, that's for me to know and for you to never find out. I'll end my turn with two facedowns." Kurogasa said. And Robattalion's attack points went back to normal.

"Sooner or later, you're gonna have to answer my question. Ore no ta-n!" Trudge said as he drew his card.

**Kurogasa's SPC:** 0

**Trudge's SPC:** 2

"Nice. I activate the speed spell, Overboost! This lets me gain 4 speed counters. Adding with the two I have now, that makes six. But at my end phase, it goes to 1."

**Kurogasa's SPC:** 0

**Trudge's SPC:** 6

"Now I summon the tuner monster, Jutte Fighter!" Trudge said. A small Japanese man wearing a yellow robe with a red vest over it, holding some sort of tuning fork with a Japanese lantern on his back appeared (2) (ATK: 700/DEF: 900). "And now I tune my level 2 Jutte Fighter with one of my level 4 Gate Blockers!" Jutte Fighter turned into 2 green rings and Gate Blockers turned into 4 balls of light. The balls of light lined up in the tunnel of rings and a beam shot out of it.

"I Synchro summon Goyo Guardian! A Japanese man with white and red facial make up, wearing a black robe and red vest over it with a big blue cloth on his back and carrying a long rope showed (6) (ATK: 2800/DEF: 2000).

"That's not all. I'll activate the speed spell, Sonic Buster! And you know what this does last time we dueled." Trudge said.

"Yeah I know." Kurogasa said as a flashback played in his mind.

*Flashback*

"_Nice. Time to kick this hot pursuit to the next level. I activate the Speed Spell, Sonic Buster! I can only activate it if I have 4 or more Speed Counters. Half of one of my monster's attack points gets dealt to you. In this case, it's Montage Dragon." The Speed Spell glowed pink, went to Montage Dragon and then connected to Kurogasa._

*****End Flashback*****

"Now I'll use it for Goyo Guardian. And half of his attack points are getting dealt to you as damage!" The spell card glowed pink went to Goyo Guardian and then it hit Kurogasa.

**Kurogasa: **2400/**SPC:** 0

**Trudge: **4000/**SPC:** 6

"Now I'll activate another Sonic Buster speed spell and you take more damage!" Trudge said as he played another Sonic Buster and the same events happened.

**Kurogasa: **1000/**SPC:** 0

**Trudge: **4000/**SPC:** 6

"And now to finish you off. Goyo Guardian, attack his puny Robattalion and end this duel!" Trudge ordered. Goyo Guardian swung his rope around and threw it at Robattalion. The end of rope had a metal arrow-like tip. It was going for the robot.

"Not so fast! I activate the trap, Totem Pole!" Kurogasa said as he revealed his facedown. A section totem pole appeared and Goyo Guardian destroyed the top section with his rope.

"Sorry, but you can't attack me until those two other sections are destroyed." Kurogasa smirked.

"Lucky brat. I end my turn." Trudge said and his speed counter went down to one. "You still haven't answered my question. Why did you break curfew tonight huh?" Trudge asked. Kurogasa just sighed.

"Alright, if you wanna know so badly, I'm going to New Domino City to search for my memories." He answered.

"Huh?"

"The thing is, I have amnesia, and for some reason that I don't know why, I ended up in Satellite. But as you can see, I don't have a Marker. So it's a possibility that I come from the City. Lately, my memories have been coming back to me piece by piece and I'm going to pick up the rest of those pieces so I can know whom I really am. And I'm not going to let you stop me from finding my memories! Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa said and drew his card.

**Kurogasa's SPC:** 0

**Trudge's SPC:** 2

"Nice! I activate the speed spell, Wheelie Breaker!" Kurogasa said.

"Hold on, you don't have enough power to play a speed spell. My Gate Blocker is still in play!" Trudge said.

"You sure about that? Double check your screen." Kurogasa said. Trudge looked at it and was shocked to see what it was.

**Kurogasa's SPC:** 6

**Trudge's SPC:** 2

"B-but that's impossible! You shouldn't have any speed counters!" Trudge roared. But then he remembered something earlier in the duel.

*Flashback*

"_Now I'll activate another Sonic Buster speed spell and you take more damage!" Trudge said as he played another Sonic Buster and the same events happened. But while that happened, Kurogasa secretly activated Slip Stream, his other facedown without Trudge noticing._

*End Flashback*

"YOU BASTARD!" Trudge yelled.

"Surprised? We'll I guess that's expected of you. You were so busy trying to take me down, that you didn't notice my Slip Stream trap card activating. If my speed counters are lower than yours, then I gain speed counters equal to my opponents. So in other words, you only made me go faster!" Kurogasa said as he sped up to get away from Trudge. Trudge followed.

"You'll pay for that! Once this duel is over, I'm locking you up for good!" Trudge said.

"Assuming you can get me. But first I activate Wheelie Breaker's effect. If I have 6 or more speed counters, all monsters on your side of the field are destroyed. Kurogasa went fast on his duel runner and ran over Gate Blocker and destroyed it. He then turned around and ran over Goyo Guardian destroying him in the process. And then Kurogasa went in front of Trudge again.

"With that out of the way, I summon the tuner monster, Haos El Condor to the field in attack mode!" The white and yellow colored shaman-like creature with the big Aztec mask appeared (3) (ATK: 1300/DEF: 1100). "And when he's summoned successfully, I can change a monster's level on my side of the field. And I change my Robattalion's level from 2 to 3." El Condor glowed with energy and the energy transferred to the robot changing his level.

Haos Robattalion's Level: 3

"Now I tune my level 3 Robattalion with my level 3 El Condor. El Condor turned into three green rings and Robattalion turned into 3 balls of light. It lined up and went into the tunnel of rings.

"_Ten no houshakou ha, kurayami no ue ni kagayaki , subete no eien no tame ni sore o fusshoku suru__! Shinkuro Shoukan! Migaki ni, Haos Ancient Nemus!"_

A beam shot out of the rings and then the male angelic warrior with yellow armor and angelic wings that are bladed and round and holding his staff appeared (6) (ATK: 2400/DEF: 2000). "And now I activate his special ability. Once per turn, I can bring one monster back from my graveyard. So I bring back my Haos Robattalion! Nemus's staff glowed, a beam of light shot out of it and Robattalion suddenly appeared back on the field.

"Now I'll play the speed spell that will end this duel! I play the speed spell Speed Energy! I can only activate it if I have at least two speed counters. I can increase the attack of one of my monsters I control by an amount equal to the number of speed counters I have by 200 points. I have 6, which means that's 1200 attack points and I'll transfer it Haos Ancient Nemus!" Blue energy shot out of the card and it went to Nemus.

Haos Ancient Nemus- (ATK: 3600/DEF: 2000).

"No way! With that many attack points and that robot of yours-" Trudge began. "- I can say goodbye to you and hello to New Domino City! Haos Robattalion, attack his life points directly!" Kurogasa commanded. Robattalion shot a yellow beam out of its chest and hit Trudge.

**Kurogasa: **1000/**SPC:** 6

**Trudge: **3100/**SPC:** 2

"I can't believe this! I'm gonna get beaten by a Satellite scum again!" Trudge said to himself.

"I'm not Satellite scum. It's Kurogasa Kururugi! And don't you forget it! Nemus, finish it off with Sparkling Arrow!" Kurogasa ordered. Nemus raised his staff and sent a wave of light energy at Trudge. It went as fast as an arrow being shot and it hit Trudge. Trudge grunted as his life points depleted to nothing.

**Kurogasa: **1000/**SPC:** 6

**Trudge: **0/**SPC:** 0

A big red X showed on Trudge's screen and smoke came out of the runner making it stop automatically, the holograms faded and Kurogasa just sped off after that attack.

"Damn, I lost again! Oh well, I guess it's up to them now." Trudge said. Kurogasa kept on going until he looked at the screen and the 3 minutes are up.

"Oh crap, it's been 3 minutes already!" Kurogasa said and then the doors of the pipe opened up and trash started to fill in. Kurogasa was dodging left and right trying not to get hit. Then he saw the hatch it was closing fast. "C'mon, get there!" Kurogasa said and just in time Kurogasa was able to get in at the last second before it closed.

"YAHOO! Goodbye Satellite, Hello New Domino City!" Kurogasa yelled as he continued on.

Meanwhile, Trudge tried to start up his runner again until he saw the trash coming his way.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Trudge yelled as he was getting buried in the trash. "Hanson, override the trash compactor! Override the tra-" But Trudge got buried in the trash so much, that it muffled his voice.

Kurogasa managed to get out of the Pipeline and into the outskirts of the Daimon area.

"That was a close one. Now I gotta go find Yusei." Kurogasa said to himself. Just then out of nowhere, a lot of Sector Security officers showed up.

"Stop right there! You're trespassing in New Domino City! Put your hands up!" One officer said. Kurogasa took off his helmet and left his duel runner and wrist dealer behind only carrying his deck with him. The officers started to chase him. Kurogasa continued to run until he came up to an alleyway, which turned up to be a dead end.

"Damn, I'm trapped." Kurogasa said to himself and hid his deck in the inside pocket of his jacket just in time before Security officers came in. Kurogasa then turned around and put his hands up.

"Give it up! You have nowhere to run!" One officer said.

"Sector Security will now confiscate your deck and runner!" Another said.

"Too bad. I threw away my cards so you won't get them." Kurogasa lied.

"I find that hard to believe. Search him!" The officer said. The other one came up to him and searched him like police always do.

"He's clean. He doesn't have his cards with him."

"Told you so." Kurogasa said.

"In any case, you're under arrest for trespassing in New Domino City!" The officer said. And with that, the officers handcuffed Kurogasa and took him away.


	8. Chapter 7: The Facility

I told you that last chapter was going to be intense. Even though that turbo duel was short. Anyways, let's get on to Kurogasa living in the Facility.

Disclaimer: Same routine.

Chapter 7: The Facility

Kurogasa was being held in a dark courtroom. They held him for a few days until the day he was on trial. He could only see the silhouette of the judge before him. He was tied up to a chair so he wouldn't try to get away.

"What's this? He's only a kid. What's he done? Oh well, let's look what the complaint was. Turbo dueling without a license, blah, blah, blah, Malicious mischief, blah, blah, bla- whoa! Entering New Domino City without a traveling permit. Well, now we can't have that now can we? Here's a little 'tracking dye' for you." The judge said. A machine lowered from the ceiling and it sprayed a radiophilic yellow dye on both of his cheeks. Each cheek had a small v-shaped arrow that's slightly below and near the outside of the eye with the bottom point of the v pointing towards his nose.

"Is this supposed to tickle?" Kurogasa asked.

"This is to make sure that we can track you wherever you are." The judge answered. Kurogasa suddenly felt a jolt from the marking knowing the maker is activated. "As for your sentence, you're sent to the Facility for a few months. After your senten- I mean 'vacation', you're free to go back to Satellite, as long as you don't set foot in New Domino City."

Kurogasa was then taken to an armored paddy wagon along with some other random criminals. After the ride, they arrived at a huge building. "Welcome to the Facility. Your home away from home." The officer said. Kurogasa and the other criminals got out of the armored paddy wagon and went into the Facility. When they got in. One of the officers stopped them.

"Wait a minute. Let me take this prisoner in. I want to _personally_ escort him to his new cell." He said pointing at Kurogasa. Kurogasa saw who it was. It was Trudge.

"Sure. Go ahead." The officer said and he and the other prisoners left for their cells.

"Geez, you again?" Kurogasa groaned.

"Come with me." Trudge demanded and grabbed Kurogasa's arm and led him somewhere. They went into a dark room where this only a single light hanging above the ceiling, closed the door and locked it.

"What did you bring me here for?" Kurogasa asked.

"Beat him." Trudge said. Kurogasa was confused for a minute, but then out of nowhere, a couple of Security came from behind and attacked by punching him. Kurogasa fell to the ground and then the guards started kicking him relentlessly giving Kurogasa no time to defend himself. Trudge stood there just watching Kurogasa being helpless as he was getting punched and kicked.

"This is for humiliating me twice. First that turbo duel for you and that brat's freedom and that turbo duel in the pipeline adding to the fact that I smell like trash!" Trudge smirked. This beating went on for a few more minutes until the guards were done.

"Get him up." Trudge ordered. The two picked up Kurogasa holding his arms up. Kurogasa lifted his head up and looked at Trudge.

"Look at you. Not so tough are ya now. You thought you could get away huh? But you're wrong. I told you I was gonna lock you up."

"And I told you… that I… won't let you or anyone or anything… stop me from… searching… for my memories." Kurogasa said in between breaths.

"Well, that's too bad, cause I'll make sure that won't happen and that you won't get out of the Facility." Trudge said as he threw a hard punch at his face.

BAM!

As soon as that hit, Kurogasa fell to the ground and blacked out.

"_Kurogasa? Kurogasa. Wake up."_ A voice called. Kurogasa slowly opened his eyes up and the first thing he saw was a familiar face. A short old man was also there.

"Y-Yusei?" Kurogasa whispered as Yusei helped him up from the floor.

"You okay?" Yusei asked. Kurogasa was able to sit on the bottom bunk of the bed.

"Yeah. What happened?" Kurogasa asked.

"Some guards came in and threw you in here. You were pretty beat up. What happened to you?"

"Trudge was there. He and some guards beat me to a pulp." Kurogasa said.

"I take it that you went through the Pipeline okay."

"Well yeah, until Trudge turbo dueled me. I was able to win, but Security was waiting for me on the other side. What happened to you? You got a criminal mark too." Kurogasa noticed when he saw Yusei's jagged semi-straight mark with a triangle near it that went from the bottom of his eye straight down his face.

"I dueled Jack when I got to the City and then Security caught us." Yusei said.

"I see."

"But while Jack and I were dueling, this red bright dragon came out of nowhere." Yusei said.

"A dragon?"

"It's the Crimson Dragon to be exact." The old man interrupted. Kurogasa noticed. "That's Yanagi. He's my cellmate. Apparently, he's been here a few times before." Yusei said.

"I see. So what's this Crimson Dragon you're talking about?" Kurogasa asked.

"Well, you see I traveled all over the world hearing legends. I've heard of this legend in South America. About 5000 years, an evil was threatening the world. The People of the Stars, called upon the "Dragon Star" to save their land from destruction. The star answered their call and came down from the heavens in the form of the Crimson Dragon. The Dragon had servants to help him and they were known as Signers. Each of them had a dragon. Yusei maybe be one of them." Yanagi explained.

"Really?" Kurogasa asked Yusei.

"I don't know. When I battle Jack with my Stardust Dragon and he with his Red Dragon Archfiend, it just suddenly appeared." Yusei said.

"You got your dragon back?"

"No. I wanted Jack to pay for what he did and after that, I would get Stardust Dragon back, but the Crimson Dragon interfered the match. So I wasn't able to get it back."

"I see. So that's what that red glow was."

"You saw it too?" Yanagi asked.

"Not exactly. See right after Yusei left Satellite, I saw this red glow coming from the City. I was in Satellite at the time. And for some reason, my right arm felt like it was burning up. When the glow faded, the pain in my arm faded too."

"That's weird." Yusei said.

"That's what I said." Kurogasa replied. Just then, a guard came inside.

"All right people, let's go. It's free time now. So you could do whatever you want." The guard said. Kurogasa, Yusei, and Yanagi got out their cell and then a well-built man with spiky blue hair came up to them.

"Come with me, guys." He said.

"What for?" Kurogasa asked.

"Just follow." The three of them followed to the prison's large gym room. "Say hello, newbies, to my duel stadium! Hope you know how to duel."

The man walked towards the trio, "Now, let me tell you how things are gonna work around here: first day in, everyone duels. You duel good, you get respect. But, don't get no ideas, 'cause I'm the best."

When Yanagi realized whom that person was, a bright glint shown in his eyes, "Of course you're the best! You're Bolt Tanner! He's a pro; and I'm your biggest fan! Can I have an autograph, please?" he begged.

"Sure, but I only write in black and blue!"

"Oh man, the old guy had that coming," a random prisoner whispered, "Tanner sure hates it when anybody brings up his past."

"Congrats! You got your first opponent, and it's yours truly! And I'm gonna mop the floor with that big head of yours!" Tanner said, "And because you got no deck, looks like you're dueling with a reject one we put together!"

Yanagi giggled, "Actually, I smuggled my own deck, Tanner. And it's the greatest deck ever made!"

"Yeah, freakin' right!"

"I call it my treasure deck. And it's packed with relics, fossils, antiques…" The old man pulled out cards from his inside kimono pocket, "See?" even his socks had pockets, "See?" even his underpants' pockets had pockets, "See, see? It's all here!"

"A treasure deck? How'd he get that?"

"Either way, they won't help you, Grandpa," Tanner set his sights on Yusei and Jason, who he had his back to, "Where're your decks?" Tanner asked Kurogasa and Yusei.

"They're… not with us." Yusei lowered his head.

"I threw mine out, so Security won't get it." Kurogasa said. Yusei was shocked to hear it.

"You what?" Yusei asked. Kurogasa went up to his ear.

"Relax… It's in the inside pocket of my jacket. Sector Security does a bad job when it comes to searching people." Kurogasa whispered.

"After I'm through with gramps over here, I'll rustle up some cards for you, and then I'll teach you a thing or two about dueling in The Facility," Tanner went up in their faces with a grin, "And you'd better believe it'll be a lesson you'll never forget."

Luckily, Yanagi managed to get between them to break up this 'uncomfortable' moment, "OK, everyone, calm down. I've been here before and I knows how the rules are supposed to work," and he twiddled his indexes, "If I win, well, I'm in charge."

"LIKE THAT WILL EVER HAPPEN!" Tanner shouted. "Well, since you're so confident, let's get this duel started so I can end it!" Yanagi adorned himself a duel disk and cheered, "Woohoo! This is like a dream come true, Tanner! I'm actually dueling my hero!"

"Just go!"

"Be careful, Tanner; after all, if that old man's deck is real, then you just might have a fight on your hands."

"Like that treasure deck is real. "Don't make me laugh!"

"Oh, they're real, I promise. And they're gonna put me in charge of this place!"

"Grandpa, age before beauty!" Both then activated their duel disks and drew their five cards.

*A few turns later…*

"Now, Giant Ushi Oni, attack!"

The spider-bull leapt to the sky as it pounces towards Yanagi, who braces himself in fright. When the attack collided, it sent the old man's cards spilled across the floor, and him being knocked down along with them.

**Yanagi: 0**

**Tanner: 4000**

Yusei and Kurogasa ran up to Yanagi.

"You okay?" Kurogasa asked as he helped him up.

"Class dismissed," Tanner smirked as he walked towards Yanagi, "You may have been here before, Grandpa, but you've never dueled with the likes of me. And since you lost, that means I'm still in charge of this place," he stomped his foot onto Yanagi's Crystal Skull card. "Now get out of here. And leave your precious treasures with me!" Tanner showed another sinister smirk.

"Please let me keep my deck! I'm just an old man, Mister Tanner!" Yanagi whined as he tried to release his card from tanner's weight, "I spent my entire life collecting all these rare cards. These cards are all I have left. You understand; they're like my children. The cards are so special and delicate that they require proper supervision! I've climbed Mt. Everest, I've survived the Sahara heat, I've touched the North and South Poles, and in all these amazing travels, there's nothing more precious as the cards. Just open your heart and let me keep them safe and sound." But Tanner was unfazed by his sob story as he bruised the card with the sole of his shoe, "Gah! You can't do this!"

Yusei and Kurogasa had enough; it was time for action. So the moment Yusei set a gloved hand on Tanner's shoulder, Kurogasa kicked his boot below Tanners feet, literally sweeping him off them, and crashing to the hard cold floor. His head was still banging even when he picked himself up,

"Look's like you two just earned yourself a duel." Tanner growled.

"You think that this deck is worthless? Well, you're wrong! We'll show you the true value of these cards!" Kurogasa said.

"Oh, really? The way I see it, they're worthless!' Tanner said.

"Then prove it Tanner." Yusei said. He then walked up to Yanagi.

"Can we borrow your cards?" He asked. Yanagi has no idea what he was about to do. "I can see the true value of your treasure deck."

"Wha?"

Yusei took the old man's duel disk and placed it on himself and inserted the deck in the slot.

"One of you give me duel disk!" Kurogasa ordered. One of the prisoners luckily, had one and gave it to Kurogasa and he placed it on himself too. Yusei then gave half of the deck to Kurogasa and he puts that half in his duel disk.

"You both are gonna duel me with half a deck? Please, I want a challenge."

"And you'll get one. You said we duel here for respect. I think it's time you learn what that really means." Kurogasa said. The duel disks activated and they all drew their five cards.

"There's no way you got the skills to take me down! Do you have any idea what you two are getting yourselves into?" Tanner asked.

"Bring it on and find out." Kurogasa shot back.

"Hmph, at least you got the whole attitude thing covered."

"You two don't have to do this, you know." Yanagi insisted Yusei.

"But if we don't step up, We'll never live it down." Yusei said.

It appears there's nothing stopping Yusei and Kurogasa from confronting Bolt Tanner, the former Pro Duelist. Especially when Yanagi senses an unusual aura coming from him._ 'There's something special about these whippersnappers.' _"…Who are you?"

"Just two guys trying to get by."

Tanner had enough of giving intermission, so he wasted no time and activated his duel disk yet again, "You lose a duel in here and no one's gonna respect you. And trust me, around here, you survive on respect."

"Well, then you better hope you don't lose." Yusei said.

"And when we beat you, then you'll respect _us_." Kurogasa added.

"DUEL!"

**Kurogasa/Yusei:** 4000

**Tanner: **4000

"Seniority rules here. I'm going first," Tanner drew his sixth card and grinned, "Let me introduce you to my little pet, Jirai Gumo!" The monster he summoned is a giant brown spider. Despite having eight legs, it stood on two (4) (ATK: 2200/DEF: 100). Then I'll set two facedowns and end my turn. So how's the Old Timer's deck looking? You gonna throw some garage-sale rejects at me?"

"Ore no ta-n!" Yusei said and drew his sixth card. Yanagi recognized Yusei's hand as the same one he had.

"Whatever you do, don't use the Crystal skull." Yanagi warned.

"The Crystal Skull! Good idea!"

"What are you—I said don't use it! Didn't you see what it did to me?" Yanagi shouted.

"I summon Crystal Skull in defense mode!" The giant blue skull appeared on the field (1) (ATK: 0/DEF: 0). And just like last time, it unleashed a cursed torrent of energy directly at Yusei. The other prisoners besides Yanagi and Kurogasa laughed.

"Don't say I didn't warn you," Yanagi cited.

"You know that skull's cursed," Tanner protested, "Why play something that attacks yourself?"

"Good question, why would I?" Yusei asked rhetorically, while still surrounded by the flowing torrent of energy, "It'd be a stupid move, unless of course, I have this!" a spell card appeared beside Yusei, which summoned a white paper doll over his head.

"I got it from a friendly shaman in Africa, but he never got the chance to explain how it worked." Yanagi said.

Absorbing the energy, the white doll turned pitch-black and dispelled the attack, and then it instantly broke into smaller dolls as they assaulted Tanner, taking 1000 of his life points. The other prisoners were shocked to see this.

**Kurogasa/Yusei:** 4000

**Tanner:** 3000

"What just happened?" One prisoner asked.

"Seems like everything played all opposite-like! Tanner ended up losing life points, and the newbie didn't take any damage at all!" Another said.

"How'd you do that?" Tanner asked. "What was that card you just played?"

"It's the Curse Reflection Doll." Yusei answered, "Normally it's used to reflect burn effects back at the opponent, but I'm gonna use it to turn Crystal Skull's curse into an attack against you."

"Nice one Yusei!" Kurogasa complimented.

Even Yanagi was feeling a little better, "I'm just so glad that some people other than me can see the true value of these cards."

"Well, I never met a card I didn't like," Yusei commented. "You see, every card is special, and you just have to appreciate its power in order to figure out how to best use it."

"…so you don't think they're worthless?" Yanagi asked.

"Are you kidding me gramps? This deck is incredible." Kurogasa said.

"…I knew it …I just knew it!" Yanagi said teary-eyed.

"Hey, don't sweat it, Tanner," one of the prisoners called, "The new kid just got lucky, That's all. Don't let it get to ya!"

"No, that was not luck," Tanner answered with a smile, "If the Pro-Duels taught me one thing, it was how to spot a good opponent," The prisoners didn't believe what they just heard. Was Bolt Tanner actually being nice for once? That was the question that ran through everyone's mind.

"It's my turn; I draw!" Tanner looked at the card he drew, "Sweet! I release Jirai Gumo, in order to advance-summon Ushi Oni!" The humanoid spider's flesh became a small ceramic jar, which released the giant bull-demon (6) (ATK: 2150/DEF: 1950).

"Now, why would he do that?" Yanagi wondered, "Jirai Gumo is more powerful than this monster."

"Just wait, Old-Timer, the real show's about to begin. Now I release Ushi Oni to special-summon, Giant Ushi Oni!" Tanner replaced the demon with another, summoning the giant spider-bull demon (8) (ATK: 2600/DEF: 2100). "This spider-bull does whatever a spider can! And now my Giant Ushi Oni is taking out your Crystal Skull! Go, Spector Spike!" Tanner's monster charged after the crystal, shattering it to pieces, then pixels.

"That's just the beginning of your worries, because when Giant Ushi Oni destroys a monster in battle, it can attack again. And with your Crystal Skull gone, you got no defense; so you're open for a direct attack!" Ushi Oni spewed several thick strands of webbing, which tangled over Yusei as he took the damage without even flinching.

**Kurogasa/Yusei:** 1400

**Tanner:** 3000

"That was awesome!"

"These guys just ain't got what it takes!"

"Yusei! You okay?" Kurogasa asked.

"I'll be fine."

"So are you any good at all newbies?" Tanner asked, "Or are you the losers these guys say you are?"

"Oh, we're good. You just haven't seen it yet. Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa said as he drew his card. '_This won't help for now. But maybe later.'_ He thought. " I summon Ashoka Pillar in defense mode!" Kurogasa said and a giant Morian pillar appeared (3) (ATK: 0/DEF: 2200).

"Ooh, look at me, I just summoned a giant stick!" A prisoner said sarcastically.

"Now you _really_ got us scared!"

"Knock it off, you two!" Tanner argued, "I'm interested to see how much he can squeeze out of that deck," he turned to Kurogasa. "You got another surprise up your sleeve?"

"Yep, I got more! I play the spell card, Stonehenge!" Kurogasa placed the spell card that revealed the famous circle of stone structures. "See, the power of Stonehenge lets me summon a monster with no ATK points from my graveyard. So I'm summoning back the Crystal Skull in defense mode!" in a flash of light, the crystal came back to the field, but not without inflicting its curse on Kurogasa.

**Kurogasa/Yusei:** 400

**Tanner:** 3000

"Is you skull as empty as that Crystal Skull?" the prisoners laughed, "cause unless you got another one of these reflection dolls, that was the stupidest move possible!"

"Think again, boys," Tanner analyzed, "Giant Ushi Oni can attack twice. If he hadn't summoned that skull, I would've been able to take him out after demolishing that pillar. But with that Crystal Skull in the way…"

"Ushi Oni will have to attack it instead of him!"

"So, uh, he basically saved himself from a big beating by taking a little/medium-sized beating?"

"Yep," Tanner smiled deviously, "except he made one major mistake: when Ushi Oni demolishes that pillar, he'll take 2000 points of damage!"

"Sorry, kiddos." Yanagi apologized. "I wish I could've given you a better deck."

"C'mon gramps, you can't give up on your deck now. I'll place a facedown and end my turn." Kurogasa said.

_'A trap card! Now, if only I can get him to use it…'_ Tanner thought. "Don't think that face-down can save you, kid!" Tanner braved. "Alright, newbies, my turn!" Tanner called, "Let's see how your little trinkets can stand up to this move!" Ushi Oni flexed its muscles, ready to attack. "Giant Ushi Oni, tear down that Asoka Pillar!"

"Not so fast! I play the Totem Pole trap card!" Kurogasa said and a three sectioned totem pole appeared. One of its three heads was destroyed only leaving two parts left.

"How incredible!" Yanagi cheered.

"Keep 'em coming, Tanner, because my Totem Pole can block your attacks up to 3 times!"

"This is fantastic! With my deck, you're both gonna win!" but the celebration was short-lived as Tanner chuckled malignly.

"You think I didn't see that coming? I was counting on it! Cause now I can play my Spider Web Castle trap card! And it's all thanks to you activating you trap card!" Tanner activated a reverse card, which invaded the field of many threads of webbing, forming the shape of a tall Japanese tower, "So now, if your monster attacks, it'll get caught in my web and will only be able to use half its ATK points. But the best part is that I can also discard a card to my graveyard, and then jump past your defense for a direct attack!"

"I take it back, kids. You're not gonna win." Yanagi whined.

"I'll place a facedown and end my turn." Tanner said. _'Bring it on, newbies, 'cause my field is perfect. Thanks to Trap Hole, when you summon a monster with 1000 or more ATK points, it'll get destroyed. And if you summon some weaker ones, hoping for a straight-up brawl, I can use mirror force to wipe 'em out before they even move. This duel's got me all fired up. I love it! It reminds me of better days; back when I was on my way to the top of the Speed World Circuit. The energy in the air, heart pounding, blood racing, it was the greatest feeling in the world! Until, I took my shot at the Championship, and Jack Atlas took me out in one move. It was the most humiliating defeat of my career.'_

*Flashback*

_After the match, Jack confronted the devastated Bolt Tanner at his trailer. He took off his helmet to reveal a smug smile on his face._

_"Guess you'll have to wait a little longer to take your victory lap, huh, Tanner? Maybe next time I'll actually try!" Jack said._

_After those very words, he walked away._

*End flashback*

_'It was all downhill from there.' _Tanner snapped himself out of thought and took a glance at his opponent,_ 'But I like these kids. They remind me… well, of me!'_

Yusei looked down at Yanagi's one half of his deck, _'I know this deck won't let me down. If I can get one more monster on the field, I can win this. If not, I'm a goner.'_ Yusei closed his eyes, reached for his deck and focused all energies to one last draw. When the Draw Phase passed, he opened his eyes, looked at the card, and smiled. He looked at Kurogasa and he nodded.

"I activate the Piri Res Map spell card!" Yusei played a card which showed a decayed treasure map. The prisoners queried.

"What can you do with some old piece of paper—"

"It's not paper, it's gazelle skin!" Yanagi protested, "That say that the—"

"THERE HE GOES AGAIN!"

"ENOUGH WITH THE LECTURES, PROFESSOR!"

"The Piri Res Map can show a monster with no ATK points, a clear path from my deck to my hand," Yusei's duel disk slid a card from the middle of the deck as he took it.

"So does that mean you draw another card?" Tanner asked.

"I'm not just drawing the card, I'm summoning it. I summon Cabrera Stone!" Yusei said. He summoned a giant onyx stone with strange runes on it (1) (ATK: 0/DEF: 0) "Because of Piri Res Map's effect I have to pay half of his life points."

**Kurogasa/Yusei:** 200

**Tanner:** 3000

"What's that rock gonna do?" the prisoners mocked.

"It's a stone!" Yanagi corrected, "The Cabrera Stone, to be exact. They say a lost civilization—"

"NOBODY CARES, OLD MAN!" The prisoners shouted.

But Yanagi just continued, "This is an archeological spectacle! The Crystal Skull, The Cabrera Stone, the Asoka Pillar, I'm getting historical goose bumps! The world's best museums don't hold collections as rare as these!"

"Something I don't get: the downside of that map is that you have to pay half your life points in order to summon that rock you added to your hand. That leaves you with only 200 life points. Why would you put yourself at risk like that, to summon something with no attack points?"

"To win this duel," Yusei said. "And I'll give the honor to Kurogasa."

"Gladly. Sorry Tanner, but when Crystal Skull, Asoka Pillar and Cabrera Stone are on the field together, I can activate this. I reveal my facedown; the spell card, Triangle-O!" a small glowing circle appeared on the floor, which divided into three circles, forming into a triangle, hence the name. The triangle got bigger and bigger until it surrounded the entire field. Every monster inside it began to crack and crumple.

"What kind of hocus-pocus is this?"

"Amazing! I can't wait to see what this can really do!" Yanagi said excited.

"Triangle-O's power destroys every card on the field!" Kurogasa as the artifacts started to break into pieces, as well as Tanner's Giant Ushi Oni, "And all the damage I would've taken by the cards' effects gets dealt to you! RESPECT THAT, TANNER!"

The ancient treasures collapsed and the giant shards of what was left of them hurled straight towards Tanner.

**Kurogasa/Yusei:** 200

**Tanner:** 0

The duel disks deactivated.

"I… I don't believe it," Tanner fell to the floor on one knee.

Yanagi went to where Yusei and Kurogasa stands to celebrate on his victory. "Boys, that was stupendous!" Yanagi cheered, "I traveled the world over, but I've never seen dueling like that! You two didn't even attack! I could hug you, but don't worry, I won't."

Yusei looked behind him and nodded.

"Gramps, none of this would be possible without this awesome deck of yours!"

"Actually, I will hug ya'!"

Now the old man felt teary-eyed; Yanagi clung to Yusei and Kurogasa for the best bear hug he can offer, as well as a few additional smooches, which Yusei and Kurogasa find a little annoying.

"Alright, alright, you can get down now." Kurogasa chuckled celebration was about to be short-lived, because the rest of the spectators, didn't take Tanner's loss lightly on them.

"Don't worry, we don't care that he won, they're still slime to us!"

"Yeah, we're taking that treasure deck!"

"Hang on!" Tanner held them back.

"Hang on for what?"

The former pro walked toward Yusei and his friends, "You two won the duel without ever attacking once. That's a pretty amazing thing to pull off. And I know what I'm talking about. The old man was right."

"He's right about what?" Kurogasa asked.

"I used to be a pro, but I never dueled someone quite like you guys." Tanner turned to Yusei, "You're good. So, you got a name, newbie?"

"…It's Yusei."

"And I'm Kurogasa."

And Tanner turned his attention to Yanagi, "Hey, Gramps, I apologize for stepping on your cards."

"I hope you learned your lesson Tanner," Kurogasa said, "Show 'em, Yanagi!" Yanagi fanned his cards for Tanner to see, "Pretty cool, aren't they? You were doubting their worth, but Yusei and Kurogasa showed you how special they are."

"My time in the spotlight is long gone, but I want to do everything I can to get Yusei and Kurogasa to the world of the pros." Tanner reached his hand to Yusei, "So what do you say? You interested?"

"…very," Yusei grabbed his hand with his own for a firm handshake.

"Hey, don't forget me!" Kurogasa said. Tanner shook his hand too.

Things were looking to get pretty well in The Facility, until…

"Alright, alright. Break it up, fellas!" Their small moment was short-lived as it was disturbed by a pair of smirk-wearing prison guards, carrying nightsticks, "Let's go, No. 88! You too, No.99! The Chief wants to see you. Now!"


	9. Chapter 8: Lockdown Duel

Here we go people! It's time for Chapter 8 of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Stardust Accelerator! Hope you enjoy this chapter.

Disclaimer: Same as usual.

Chapter 8: Lockdown Duel

Yusei and Kurogasa were escorted by 4 guards, two for each. They were walking until they reached to Chief Armstrong's office. One of the guards opened the door and there stood the warden of the Facility... Chief Takasu Armstrong. Very large and wide, Armstrong is a massive and sadistic man with a distinctive booming voice. He seems to have muscular arms but a fat and slightly overhanging belly, and a generally stocky overall appearance. He was wearing his uniform only his sleeves were completely rolled up.

"So how do you like The Facility so far boys? I'm sure it smells better than what you're used to back at Satellite, as does my anchovy- and-onion breath, don't you think?" Armstrong blew in Yusei's and Kurogasa's face. They both recoiled in disgust.

'That's just nasty.' Kurogasa thought.

Armstrong went over to Yusei and gripped his right arm, searching for some something. "Rumor has it that you might be hiding something, and it's my job to find out if you are. The Chief pushed Yusei to a couple of other officers, "Go to the lab and run your tests! Find out what this punk's hiding!"

The two guards then took him away only leaving Kurogasa with Armstrong and the other guards.

"What are you going to do with him?" Kurogasa shouted.

"Don't worry about him. Worry about yourself. As for you, I want to talk to ya about something." Armstrong said.

"About what?" Kurogasa asked.

"That duel you and Yusei had. Seems like you two are the talk of the trash recently.

"Yeah, me and Yusei Tanner in a duel."

"Yeah, yeah, so you beat Tanner in a duel, so what? Scum is still scum. Don't matter whatcha do here. As long as you're here in the Facility, you'll always be scum. That's what I plan on beating into you."

"Oh, I'm so scared; I don't know what to do." Kurogasa said sarcastically.

"Keep it up boy, because you're going to get a full beating. And that's by dueling yours truly." Armstrong said with a booming voice.

"A duel?"

"Yeah, that's right, a duel. My word is the law here and if you don't comply, then it's unconditional defeat. Tell you what, I'll make a deal with ya. If you win, then I'll halve the sentence of the other prisoners and I'll let you and that punk Yusei go. Buuut, if you lose... then you and Yusei will be put in lockdown for good. What do you think of that? Nice huh?"

"Yeah, sounds nice, but I think I got a better deal. We'll have a duel alright, but here's the thing. If you win, then everyone in the Facility goes in permanent lockdown, but if I win, everyone in this Facility is going free with a clean slate. If you don't agree to it, then it's an automatic win for me. Everyone is going free."

"Heh... Alright fine. You got a deal. Oh, forgot that have no cards on ya. You threw them away. Alright, I'll give ya a break. Go collect cards so you can at least duel. And don't even think about getting Tanner and the old man's deck because theirs is confiscated." Kurogasa growled at that.

"Fine, also I'll add this. If I win, then you give back all the cards that you've confiscated from the prisoners. And I mean ALL of them!"

"Fine. We duel tonight at 8:30 sharp at The Hive! That'll give ya enough time to get some cards. Don't be late!"

"I'll be there."

"Take him back to his cell!" Armstrong ordered and the two guards escorted him out of the office.

Kurogasa went back into his cell where Yanagi was.

"Are you okay?" Yanagi asked.

"Yeah. The Chief wanted to talk to me is all. I heard the guards confiscated your cards."

"Yes, unfortunately. As soon as you and Yusei left, the guards took mine and Tanner's deck."

Just then a guard opened the door with Yusei with him.

"Have a nice trip!"

The guards tossed Yusei drained and bruised back into the cell as Yanagi and Kurogasa knelt to his side, "You look horrible! What did they do to you?"

"You okay Yusei?" Kurogasa asked worriedly.

Yusei tried to pick himself up, only to be able to sit against the concrete wall, "I'm fine. They did nothing... just ran some tests." Yusei answered.

"Tests?" Yanagi asked.

"They must be looking for the mark that appeared on my arm when the Crimson Dragon showed up at the Kaiba Dome."

"What mark?" Kurogasa asked.

"When the Crimson Dragon appeared, there was a strange mark on my arm that appeared."

"Hmm..."

"Anyways, what did Armstrong do with you?" Yusei asked Kurogasa asked.

"Nothing. He just wanted to talk with me... no, scratch that, he challenged me to a duel."

"He what?" Yusei and Yanagi asked.

"Yep. He did. And I'm doing it. If I win this duel, then everyone in the Facility is going free and every card Security confiscated will be given back. However, if I lose then we're all on permanent lockdown."

"Are you crazy? I can't believe you agreed to that! Plus, you said you threw your cards away, so Security won't get it!" Yanagi said in a panicking attitude.

"Relax gramps, I didn't throw away." Kurogasa said and he reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and held out his deck. "See? I told ya. Sorry I lied to ya gramps."

"Geez, don't scare me like that. You almost gave me a heart attack." Yanagi sighed heavily.

"Lucky for me, I'm at an advantage because they don't know half of my deck and since there are security cameras all over the place, which they'll probably use to look at my hand, those guards will have a hard time trying to figure out what my monster cards are and what they do. The downside to that is that guards know the traps and a few spells cards I have in my deck. The rest of the spells were made up by me."

"I sure hope know what you're doing." Yanagi said."

"I know what I'm doing. And that's freeing everyone here." Kurogasa said.

*At 8:30*

It was time.

The time to duel Armstrong was near. Kurogasa was escorted by two guards. Yusei and Yanagi wanted to tag along, so the guards allowed it. They kept walking for a couple of minutes until they arrived at The Hive.

The Hive was the maximum-security prison that houses the worse-of-the- worse, as described by one of the guards. A large tower rising endlessly upwards out of sight, with cells dotting the walls. What was really intimidating is the view of many inmates that were looking at them on the balconies.

"Hey did you hear? I hear that guy is dueling Armstrong." One prisoner said.

"Yeah, and we're getting out of here for good if he wins." Another said.

"You're kidding me. Really?" A third asked.

Moments later, Kurogasa was lead to the meeting point of several gantries; Yusei and Yanagi were at the edge of the meeting point to watch. And facing them was Chief Takasu Armstrong. "Glad you can make it. You know the rules say that you're not allowed to have a deck in The Facility. And you have to have a deck in order to duel me. So, uh, since you are showing up empty-handed, I guess that means I win by default! Now, get him and his friends outta my sight!" the guards were about to take them away until...

"Hate to break to you Armstrong, but some rules are meant to be broken." Kurogasa said as he reached into his inside pocket of his jacket and pulled out his deck. Armstrong was surprised.

"What the- Where did you get that?" Armstrong asked.

"I've had 'em all along. This is my own deck. I hid it from you Security people so you won't get it. You police are so bad at searching people." Armstrong growled at this. "Don't worry people! Once I win this duel, everyone's getting out of this prison for good! He yelled to the other prisoners. The prisoners then cheered for him.

"Shut up you maggots!" Armstrong yelled. That settled the prisoners down. "You won't get away with this!" Armstrong said.

"Oh I will, by beating you. And three turns is all I need to beat you." Kurogasa said.

"I don't believe ya. Do you actually think that you, a Satellite scum can beat me in three turns?" Armstrong asked.

"Bring it on and find out." Kurogasa snapped.

Armstrong growled at this. "You two! Hurry up and prepare the duel disks!" each of the two guards equipped each player a standard 5D's duel disk. Then they attached a chain to one of their legs from the floor.

"What's this chain for?" Kurogasa asked.

"Oh that's, uh, just to make things a little fun. Every time we take life point damage, that chain will sort of give you a little 'tickle'."

"Tickle?"

"You'll find out soon enough." Armstrong and Kurogasa inserted their decks in the deck slots and the duel disks activated.

"DUEL!"

**Kurogasa:** 4000

**Armstrong:** 4000

"I'll go first!" Armstrong said as he drew his sixth card. "I summon my Iron Chain Snake in attack mode!" A grey chain with a snake head appeared (3) (ATK: 800/DEF: 1200). "Then I'll place a facedown and end my turn." Armstrong said placing his face down.

"You see his hand?" Armstrong whispered. He had a small intercom close to his collar. The guards were using the security cameras to look at his cards.

_"We do, but there's a problem." _The guard said.

"What sort of problem?"

_"We've never seen some of these cards before. We checked through the database and there's no information about these cards at all. We can't help you much from here." _

_'Damn, this is gonna be tough.'_ Armstrong thought.

"That all you got? C'mon, I can do better than that. Here comes my first turn! Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa said and drew his sixth card as well. "I summon my Haos Siege to the field in attack mode!" The white knight with the cape and Haos staff showed (4) (ATK: 1900/DEF: 1400). "Now attack!" Kurogasa ordered. The knight charged at the chain snake and was about to thrust his staff forward.

"I reveal my trap card, Shadow Spell! When your monster attacks, my trap stops it. And guess what? It loses 700 of its attack points and it can't change its battle position. The trap card shot out chains and restrained the knight.

Haos Siege- (ATK: 1200/DEF: 1400)

"Grr... I'll end my turn." Kurogasa said finishing his turn.

"My move now!" Armstrong said and drew his card. "Now I summon my Iron Chain Repairman in attack mode!" A greasy man with iron-grey skin appeared, wearing overalls with chains for straps, a red bandana and goggles over his eyes. An immense sledgehammer was clutched in his hands (ATK: 1600/DEF: 1200). "Next I activate the spell card, Paralyzing Chain from my hand. Whenever a card is sent from my opponent's Deck to the Graveyard by a card effect, I can inflict 300 damage to my opponent's life points. But that's not all.

"Geez, is your turn ever going to this century?" Kurogasa asked annoyed.

"Shut up and let me finish! I activate Iron Chain Snake's special ability! I can equip it to one of your monsters and it loses 800 of its attack and defense points. So I'll equip it to your Haos Siege!" The snake then wrapped around the knight restraining him even more.

Haos Siege- (ATK: 400/DEF: 600)

"Iron Chain Repairman attack his Haos Siege now!" The greasy man jumped up, raised its sledgehammer and whacked the knight turning it into pixels.

**Kurogasa:** 2800

**Armstrong:** 4000

What happened next horrified the entire audience (besides Armstrong and the guards). A surge of electricity shot from the chains connected to Kurogasa's duel disks, shocking him for real. Kurogasa screamed in pain as lost his life points. When the shock was done, he fell down on one knee. His body felt numb due to the electricity.

"Shocking isn't it? That's because these duel disks we're using have been souped up with static-generation devices," Armstrong patted the duel disk on his arm, "Whenever any of us take any kind of life point damage, this bad boys generates a little…jolt."

"Damn you... Armstrong..." Kurogasa said in between breaths.

"Oh, I forgot to mention, whenever Iron Chain Repairman destroys a monster, you lose 300 more life points. Another surge of electricity went through Kurogasa and he yelled in agony as his life points went down.

**Kurogasa:** 2500

**Armstrong:** 4000

"And since my Iron Chain Snake was sent to the graveyard with your monster, you have to discard one card to the graveyard for every level of the destroyed monster. Since your Haos Siege was level 4, you discard 4 cards." Kurogasa took the top 4 cards from his deck and sent it to the graveyard. "Now my Paralyzing Chain activates. Whenever a card or cards is sent from the deck to the graveyard by a card effect, 300 life points will be shocked out of you." And again, Kurogasa was in pain as his life points went down.

**Kurogasa: **2200

**Armstrong:** 4000

Kurogasa was struggling to get up; his body was really numb, but he had to keep going.

"C'mon now Satellite! Don't give up halfway! You're getting a full beating!" Armstrong yelled. "I'll end my turn from there." Kurogasa was able to get back up on his feet.

"This isn't... over yet Armstrong. I'll make sure... that you lose. Here's my second turn! Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa said and drew his card. "Alright! There we go! First I summon my Haos Ravenoid in attack mode!" The white and yellow humanoid raven with its wings appeared (4) (ATK: 1500/DEF: 1200). "Now I play the spell card Double Summon, which lets me summon another monster and I summon my Haos Falconeer!" The white and yellow humanoid falcon appeared as well (4) (ATK: 1600/DEF: 1400). "Now I play another spell, Rapid Haos! As long as I have a light monster on my side of the field I can special summon any other light monster from my deck or hand and I summon my Haos Griffon from my deck!"

A white and yellow lion with bat wings, who has a scaly back side, with a snake as it's tail appeared (5) (ATK: 1800/DEF: 2000). "I'll end my turn with a face down." Kurogasa said.

"My turn!" Armstrong said as he drew his card. "I activate Iron Chain Repairman's special ability! I can Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower "Iron Chain" monster from your Graveyard. You lucky I can't attack with him when I activate the effect. So I bring back my Iron Chain Shake!" Repairman slammed his hammer on the ground and the chain snake appeared. "Now I summon the tuner monster, Iron Chain Coil!" A strange monster with a cone for legs, a sphere for both body and head appeared, its arms chains ending in gloves, large white eyes decorating its torso sphere (3) (ATK: 1100/DEF: 1600).

"Now I tune my level 3 Iron Chain Coil with my level 3 Iron Chain Snake!" Armstrong said. Iron Chain Coil turned into three green rings and the chain snake turned into 3 balls of lights. The balls of light lined up in the tunnel of rings and beam of light shot of the rings. "I synchro summon, Iron Chain Dragon!" Armstrong cackled as a dark blue dragon with a serpentine body burst from the Synchro Summon, great plates of black armor defended its head and spine. Stag-like horns rose from its head, and its only limbs were bat-like wings. Links of chain wrapped around its chest, and its tail, which ended in a feather-like flap of skin, lashed wildly at the air (6) (ATK: 2500/ DEF: 1300).

"Now Iron Chain Dragon, attack his Falconeer!" Armstrong ordered. The chain dragon breathed a helix of flames at the humanoid falcon.

"I activate my Negate Attack trap card! It stops your attack and ends the battle phase immediately! A clear vortex appeared and swallowed up the flames.

"Grr... I end mu turn." Armstrong growled.

"And now, here's turn three. Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa and drew his card. "Nice. I activate Pot of Greed, which lets me draw 2 cards." Kurogasa said and he drew 2 cards from his deck. He looked at them and then smirked.

"I win."

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Armstrong asked.

"I just drew the cards needed to win everyone's freedom. I told ya I was gonna beat you in three turns. First, I play these two spell cards known as Attribute Change! I can change one of mine or your monster's attribute. Since I have two, I'll change Ravenoid's attribute to fire, which makes him Pyrus Ravenoid, and Griffin's attribute to water, which makes him Aquos Griffin." Ravenoid's feather changed color to red and yellow, while Griffin's color changed to blue and white.

"Why did you do that? I don't see how that's gonna beat me. If this is your strategy of beating me, then that's worst way to do it!" Armstrong laughed.

"Keep laughing, because once I play this card, you won't be laughing for long. I activate the spell, Triple Node-Pyrus, Aquos, Haos!"

"Huh?"

"There was a reason why I changed my monster's attribute, because with this in play, if there is fire, water, and light attribute monster on the field, then those monsters get 2000 attack points!"

"SAY WHAT?"

Pyrus Ravenoid- (ATK: 3500/DEF: 1200)

Aquos Griffin- (ATK: 3800/DEF: 2000)

Haos Falconeer- (ATK: 3600/DEF: 1400)

"Hold on! Time out!" Armstrong panicked.

"Sorry, but me and my friends are going free as well as everyone else. Pyrus Ravenoid, attack Iron Chain Dragon!" Kurogasa commanded. Ravenoid flew up and dived towards the dragon while being enveloped in flames. It hit the dragon and it was destroyed into pixels. Armstrong then received a jolt from the chain that's connected to his leg.

**Kurogasa:** 2200

**Armstrong:** 3000

"Now it's your turn Haos Falconeer. Attack Iron Chain Repairman!" Kurogasa ordered. Falconeer flew up and dived at the repairman while enveloped in light and Iron Chain Repairman was no more. Armstrong then received a jolt that's twice as strong and was screaming in pain comically.

**Kurogasa:** 2200

**Armstrong:** 1000

"And now for the grand finale. Aquos Griffin, attack his life points directly!" Griffin flew up using it's bat-like wings and charged at Armstrong while enveloped by water. The attack connected and Armstrong got really jolted when his life points depleted.

**Kurogasa: **2200

**Armstrong:** 0

Armstrong fell to the ground and laid unconscious for a couple of minutes when the holograms faded, while the prisoners were screaming from the top of their lungs cheering for Kurogasa.

"You did it!" One prisoner yelled.

"Yeah. He beat that Armstrong guy!" Another added.

"Now we're free!" A third screamed.

Yusei and Yanagi came up to Kurogasa.

"Nicely done Kurogasa." Yusei complimented.

"Sonny, that was the most amazing duel I've ever seen! The last play you did was stupendous!" Yanagi said happily jumping up to him and hugging him which got Kurogasa a little annoyed.

"Seriously gramps, you need to stop with the hugging. Uh... Yusei? A little help here?" Kurogasa asked. Yanagi then jumped off of Kurogasa before Yusei could get him down.

Armstrong then got up and his head was down.

"Alright Armstrong, I won the duel, so set us free now and give back all the cards you've confiscated!" Kurogasa said. Armstrong growled at him. He couldn't believe he lost to a Satellite scum like him.

"Put them all in permanent lockdown!" Armstrong ordered as he lifted his head back up with angry eyes. Kurogasa and Yusei were angry at this.

"WHAT?" Yusei asked.

"You bastard! We had a deal!" Kurogasa yelled.

"What deal? I never made any kind of deal with ya! Take 'em away!" The guards came up to Yusei, Kurogasa, and Yanagi and they were holding them down. Prisoners were shouting in anger due to what Armstrong is doing.

"SHUT YOUR MOUTHS ALL OF YOU! I'M THE LAW HERE IN THE FACILITY AND WHATEVER I SAY GOES!"Armstrong yelled.

"I believe that's quite enough Mr. Armstrong!" A voice called.

"Who the hell said that?" Armstrong asked. He looked around and then looked up. Then he got really, really surprised of who it was that talked. Kurogasa, Yusei, and Yanagi looked up too as their arms were being held behind their backs by the guards. On the balcony, there was a man who had long grey hair that went to his lower back, he was wearing a bluish-grey suit with pants that matched the color and black shoes. His inside shirt had the symbol of some sort of bird. Kurogasa's eyes widened when he saw who it was and then a jolt of lightning went through his head as a piece of his memory was coming back to him.

*Flashback*

_Kurogasa saw visions of the man. He was talking to another man and there was a woman next to him. And next to them was a boy. He looked exactly like Kurogasa. No, scratch that, it was Kurogasa as a boy. The man next to the boy kinda looks like him, so it was probably his dad and the woman was probably his mom._

*End Flashback*

Kurogasa snapped back into reality.

"OOH SHIT! DIRECTOR GOODWIN!" Armstrong said really surprised.

"I saw that entire duel from start to finish. And I've heard what the stakes were for this duel. It seems the only thing going away is you. I can't see how the Facility can be worked properly if there isn't trust between guard and inmate. Pack your things Mr. Armstrong. You're fired." Goodwin said. Goodwin glanced at Kurogasa and Yusei for a while and then left leaving Armstrong to his thoughts.

_'I didn't expect to see you end up here in the Facility Kurogasa, and that you were the escapee from Satellite. I've searched high and low, but now I've finally found you. My agents will be keeping an eye on you Kurogasa.'_ Goodwin thought.

At the gym floor, Kurogasa, Yusei, Yanagi, and Tanner were there. All the other prisoners have already left along with the confiscated cards that the other prisoners got back. Tanner and Yanagi got theeir decks back too.

"Thanks a lot Kurogasa. I don't know what we'd do if you lost that duel." Tanner thanked.

"It's no biggie. I'm just glad that all of us got out of here free." Kurogasa replied.

"Yeah, but we still need our duel runners and my deck is there with it." Yusei said.

"Actually, now that you mentioned it, I overheard the guards talking about your sweet rides. It's at the Security Impound Center. Here, take this." Tanner said as he pulled out a card from his pocket and gave it to Yusei. It was his Giant Ushi Oni card. "Take this to a bar called 'Bootleg' and show it to the bartender there. Order some milk and ask for the 'Jack's Flush.' He'll help ya out."

"Alright." Yusei replied.

"Now you two stay out of trouble, alright?" Yanagi said.

"Yeah, gramps. We'll be fine." Kurogasa said and he and Yusei left. The two got out of the Facility through the main entrance. It was late at night and now they have to go to the bar Bootleg in order to get their runners. Little did they know that they were being watched by a Sector Security on an interstate that above the Facility and he was on his duel runner. It was none other than Trudge.

"So... you two are running free huh? Goodwin's agents are 'keeping an eye on you too. You better hope that they find you before I do, because I'm not letting you off that easily." Trudge said.


	10. Chapter 9: Security Breach

Time to get into Chapter 9 of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Stardust Accelerator people! Things are gonna heat up between the Satellite duo and Trudge!

Disclaimer: Same thing.

Chapter 9: Security Breach

It was late at night and the Satellite duo Yusei and Kurogasa were walking in the Daimon Area until they stopped to an entrance on one of the buildings. The sign above titled 'Bootleg'.

"I guess this is the place." Kurogasa said.

"Seems like my kind of joint."I just hope this 'Jack's Flush' come through for us." Yusei said as they went inside the bar. The inside was smoky and dark, smelling strongly of cigarettes and alcohol. The bartender behind it was a tall fellow of about 25. He had a yellow scratch on his face, his criminal marker, and an elfish face. He had black spiky hair and a green vest. When he took a first look at the two, he knew something was where it doesn't belong.

"So whadda' ya' want here, kids? Lose your puppy or something?" he sneered, "My heart's breaking for ya, but this ain't the animal shelter. Now get outta here! We got a 'No Loitering' rule; paying customers only!"

"In that case…" Yusei began.

"We'll have some milk." Kurogasa finished. Yusei took out Tanner's card and presented it to the bartender, who gasped, "Bolt Tanner gave this to me. We're looking for the Jack's Flush."

The bartender fiddled under the bar and fixed two glasses of milk, "Those suits that have followed ya' looking for the Jacks, too?" The bartender asked. The two were confused for a minute what he was talking about, until he gestured to two suit and sunglasses men at the back of the bar, both of whom had their eyes fixed on Kurogasa and Yusei. The Satellites looked behind them, but not enough to be noticed. When the guards realized they were onto them, they turned away.

"I assume those guys, uh, aren't with you. Now y'all kids get out of here," the bartender gave a serious-looking stare, "You don't find the Jacks; the Jacks find you."

The Satellites quickly downed their drinks and left with Tanner's card in tow, "Thanks."

As soon as they left the building, the suits tailed them, but enough so they wouldn't be spotted. As Kurogasa and Yusei walked further in the dusk-dimmed streets, they could hear the sound of a started duel runner from above. They looked up to see a runner flying off a building in their direction. It was coming so closely at them that Kurogasa jumped out of the way while Yusei stood in place, even with the back wheel inches above his head. When the duel runner landed it skied to a halt.

"Looking for me?" the pilot of the dark-green duel runner wore a dark green vest over a white shirt and dark jeans. When they realized they were going to lose them, they came out of hiding and chased after them, "Quick! Don't let them get away!"

"C'mon! Get on!" The man yelled. Yusei sat behind him and lucky for Kurogasa, there was a side car on the side of the runner and Kurogasa got in as well. Then the runner sped off into the night.

"Check the Nava-Link. Can you track their signals?" One suited man asked.

One of the suits pulled out a small tracking device and looked at the monitor, "Yeah, we got 'em. They're going north on—" but suddenly, the two blips disappeared, "c'mon!"

"What? What's going on?"

"We lost visual and radar!"

Meanwhile, Kurogasa was holding a small rod-like gadget. The light was hitting his marker and it was reacting to it.

"Hold on to that. The ions in this little bad-boy are jamming the marker's signal. We can't have those snitches following us." The man instructed. Yusei was holding on to one as well.

"Are you The Jack's Flush?"

The man turned to Yusei, "In the flesh; name's Blister."

A few minutes later, the green duel runner stopped outside what looked like an abandoned office building and they got off of the runner. The duel runner was quickly wheeled into a garage built into the office building before Yusei, Kurogasa and Blister walked up a flight of stairs into an untidy apartment, with a few laptop computers and desktop monitors on a desk, several photographs on display on the walls, and several sofas with blankets slung over them.

The D-wheeler pulled off their helmet and tossed them onto a sofa, one had cheeks dark with stubble, mouth set into a grimace, and his hair dark brown.

Outside there were a group of helicopters with spotlights, looking as if they were searching for some hardened criminal. "Sector Security usually saves the helicopters for the big-time offenders. But you guys seem harmless enough." Blister sat in a chair and started tapping on a keyboard.

"Your markers won't transmit for a few hours, and I cloaked this building; you're good for now. So Bolt Tanner told you to come here and find The Jack's Flush, did he?"

"That's right." Kurogasa answered.

"I don't suppose he sent you to pay back the chunk of change he owes me."

"Fraid not." Yusei said.

"In that case, you two must be here for the Official Blister Hook-Up. So, what's the deal? Need new identities?"

"We need to sneak into the Security Impound Center to get our duel runners back." Yusei said getting straight to the point.

Blister couldn't believe his ears. "You're kidding, right?"

"Tanner said you could help us, so was he right or wrong?" Kurogasa asked.

"…he's right!"

Later…

"Alright Mr. Yusei Adams' and Mr. uh, Kurogasa Adams, your maintenance uniforms are set, and I got your ID cards ordered. I just need to hack into the city's system…" Blister said as he was typing a few keystrokes on his laptop for a few minutes. "…and, done; Yusei and Kurogasa Adams, you're officially an employee of the New Domino City Security Impound Center! Now, each door requires a sight-specific code. Let me hop onto the mainframe and see where they're keeping your rides so I'll know what code you'll need. When did they take them?"

"A couple of weeks ago, Blister."

"Alright then, I'll have to break the encryption…" Blister said as he continued to type onto the keyboard for a certain amount of time. "…Booyah! I'm in! Just gotta narrow down the search to single-ride duel runners, confiscated over the past several weeks, among that in a list of other variables… and, bingo! Vault 64-B, top floor." Blister skied to the next computer nearby. "Now I just need to snag the passcode you'll need to get in. this shouldn't be too hard." As the night went by, Kurogasa was thinking about everything that happened today. Especially with that piece of memory he got back and Goodwin.

'_Goodwin… I've heard of that name somewhere. It sounds familiar, but I can't put quite put my finger on it. And that man and woman, were those… my parents? If they are, where are they?'_ Kurogasa thought.

"Talk to me," Yusei walked to Blister. Yusei's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. Kurogasa then walked up to where Yusei was.

"I got the passcode for 64-B."

"Is that all we'll need?"

"That, the ID cards, your uniforms, and a whole lot of luck. The Security Droids are on a random programming, so I can't help you there."

"We'll risk it." Kurogasa assured.

Meanwhile…

Deep beneath the shadows of the Damon area, the actions of Blister and the Satellites were not gone unnoticed. Hidden against the walls of the alleyway, was Sector Security officers Trudge and Altman.

"Hmm, I-spy someone who thinks they've got away," Trudge sneered, "But no one gets away from me. I'll show Yusei, Kurogasa, and that no-good Goodwin!"

_*Flashback*_

_At headquarters, Trudge briefed his last confrontation with Yusei and Kurogasa, and the Captain was none too happy. "I said there are no third chances with the Director. You're both on mall patrol!"_

_Trudge slams his fist onto the captain's desk, "Goodwin is up to something here, Chief! First he has us shaking down the Satellites, and then he lets them walk free in Domino? I'm gonna catch those kids and get to the bottom of this!" without anything else to say, Trudge dashed out the room._

_"Trudge wait!" but it was too late as they disappeared through the exit._

_*End Flashback*_

Trudge became so giddy he couldn't contain his excitement. Soon, he cackled in the late-night, "And once you tell me what I want to know, Yusei and Kurogasa, its back to The Facility forever!"

The next morning, Blister gave the two a giant red mesh bag, everything they needed for tonight was in there.

"You take care of yourselves now. Tell Tanner I'm putting this on his tab." Blister said.

"Alright." Kurogasa said and the two left the apartment.

The Satellite Duo entered the Impound center, with patches on their faces to hide their markers. The job they were assigned to by Blister was basically to be a couple of custodians. So the spent all day doing 'custodian' stuff. Night came, and then… it was time.

All the employees at the Impound Center have left. All the doors and entrances were locked and sealed. It was void of human life, except for 2 people.

Yusei and Kurogasa emerged from the men's toilets within the centre to a dark building. The power had been turned off for the night shift, with a few small robots rolling across the hallways, "Blister wasn't lying about those security droids." Kurogasa whispered.

"Time to move," Yusei said, "Top floor, here we come."

They moved briskly through the building until they came to a giant steel door, "This is it. Now I just hope this ID and passcode work, "Yusei slid his card through the lock and typed in the code. The doors then open to a giant room filled with metal crates, "Nice."

He was holding a tracker with him while he and Kurogasa walked for a few minutes across the area, until the device locked onto their runner's location, "There we go, reunited at last." Yusei said.

"Good, now let's just get our runners and get out of here before-" but before Kurogasa could say anything else and get to his runner, spotlights burst into life. Three Sector Security officers leapt down from nearby crates, and Trudge appeared on top of one.

"All right, getting caught was _definitely not_ part of the plan!" Kurogasa said annoyed and angry.

"Well, well, well, if isn't Yusei and Kurogasa. I gotta say, this is probably your craziest stunt yet! What on earth were you boys thinking?" Trudge asked.

"We just want our duel runners back, Trudge! They are ours!" Yusei barked.

"Actually, those runners are now the property of Sector Security," Trudge sneered, "They're gonna become a pair of new patrol bikes, or maybe they'll scrap 'em and turn 'em into a bunch of toasters! I'm not really sure. As for you two, it's back to The Facility. Get 'em, boys!"

Many officers chase after Yusei and Kurogasa as they climbed into the giant crate.

"Sorry, Yusei and Kurogasa," Trudge jumped off the crates and walked up to the one Yusei and Kurogasa were hiding in, "but those runners are offline, so just come on out quietly," suddenly, a sound of engines roared out in the room, "What is that?" it was then they realized it was the sound of their runners that were causing it.

"Offline? Please!"

"You security people are just a piece of work aren't ya. Now move over, or get run over!" Kurogasa yelled.

The officers ducked as the red and silver duel runners burst from the crate and shot out along the passageway cleared between the rows of crates. Yusei and Kurogasa sped up as fast as they could. Just before the doors closed, the Satellites exited the room, but not before…

"SURPRISE!" Trudge's duel runner smashed through Yusei's as it skied across the wall. "Do you really think you can escape from me again? I'll never stop chasing you, don't you get that?"

"Me and Yusei escaped from you twice, and we can do it a third time!" Kurogasa said as he and Yusei went even faster.

"So that's how you wanna play things, is it? I'll tell you what, I'll make you a deal: give yourselves up right now, and I'll forget the fact you broke into the vault while I'm filling out the report!" Trudge offered.

"No chance!" Yusei said declining the offer.

"You expect us to believe that Trudge? Surely, you can come up with something better than that, because it's not happening!" Kurogasa added.

"You're not leaving any choice here!" Trudge said, "If you two won't surrender, I'll have to make you surrender, with a turbo duel! Fi-rudo Maho! Supido Warudo! Setto on!" He pressed a button on his Runner's console and Speed World flashed into being on all the runners' console screens.

"**DUEL MODE. AUTO-PILOT ON. STAND BY."**

The words 'DUEL MODE' appeared on everyone's screens and the screens then showed the playing field and their speed counters. A purple aura shot out of both duel runners while they were riding.

"Hey Yusei, let's take him on 2-on-1!" Kurogasa said.

"I hear ya. We'll just need to buy time while I load up the building schematics to find a way out," The duelists then drew their five cards.

"RIDING DUEL, ACCELERATION!"

**Trudge: **4000/**SPC: **0

**Yusei/Kurogasa: **4000/**SPC: **0

"Ore no sentou!" Kurogasa said and drew his sixth card. "I summon my Haos Centipoid in attack mode!" Kurogasa said as he slapped the card onto his duel disk. A blue portal opened and the white and yellow centipede came out (2) (ATK: 800/DEF: 1000). "Then I'll place one facedown and end my turn."

Yusei finally found the map on his runner's screen_. 'There's the schematic. If we could if we can find a way to escape through that opening, we're home free!' _Yusei thought.

"Ore no ta-n!" Trudge said and drew his sixth card.

**Trudge's SPC: **1

**Yusei/Kurogasa:** 1

"I summon my Search Striker in attack mode!" A blue portal opened and the trench coat clad warrior with laser rifles for arms flew from it (4) (ATK: 1600/DEF: 1200). "Since I know what does insect does, I'll just place these two facedowns and end my turn." Trudge said.

"Ore no ta-n!" Yusei said as he drew his sixth card from his deck.

**Trudge's SPC: **2

**Yusei/Kurogasa:** 2

"I summon the tuner monster, Junk Synchron!" Yusei said. A robot in orange clothing wearing big glasses and a white scarf appeared (3) (ATK: 1300/DEF: 500). "And now it's time I tune Kurogasa's level 2 Centipoid with my level 3 Junk Synchron!" Junk Synchron revved up the motor on his back, glowed orange then turned into 3 green rings and Centipoid turned into 2 balls of light. The balls of light lined up in the tunnel of rings.

"_Tsudoishi hoshi ga, aratana chikara o yobiokusu! Hikari sasu michi to nare!" Shinkuro Shoukan! Ideyo, Junk Warrior!" _(1)

A beam shot of the rings and Yusei's signature purple robot with big red lenses with its tan wings and purple jetpack came out (5) (ATK: 2300/DEF: 1300).

"Sorry Yusei, but I activate the Discord Counter trap card! With this trap card, it returns the Synchro Monster back to your Extra Deck, and then all monsters used return to the field in defense mode! Looks to me like your Junk Warrior is about to break into pieces!"

Junk Warrior glowed and was about split into the two monsters used to form it.

"I don't think so! Because I activate my Destruction Jammer trap card!" Kurogasa said revealing the facedown. By discarding 1 card from my hand to the graveyard, I can negate an effect and destroy it whether it's an effect monster, spell, or trap card." Trudge's trap card exploded and the two monsters formed up again and Junk Warrior was back.

"Thanks Kurogasa. Junk Warrior, send Search Striker to the scrap heap with Scrap Fist!" Yusei commanded. Junk Warrior flew towards Search Striker with its jetpack, pulls back its arm to punch, and then he punched Search Striker destroying that monster into pixels.

**Trudge: **3300/**SPC: **2

**Yusei/Kurogasa: **4000/**SPC: **2

"Now I'll place three facedowns and end my turn." Yusei finished. He then saw and opening in the giant hallway a few yards away, "We just need to get through that opening and get out of here, Kurogasa! Follow my lead!" Yusei sped up and Kurogasa followed suit.

"Hmph, where do you two think you're going?" Trudge smirked. Yusei and Kurogasa just looked ahead. There was a door that led to the center of the building. It was shutting close however, but even as fast as their runners could take them, they were too late as the door completely shut, so they swerved at that corner.

"There's no hatch to wiggle through this time, you sewer rats!" Trudge cackled, "You're gonna have to turn around and face the big cats!" each time they reached an opening, it instantly closed off, "Now tell me why Goodwin's so interested in you kids! Tell me and I 'might' let you go!"

The Yusei and Kurogasa stayed quiet.

"You got nothing to say? Well, once I beat you, then you'll both tell me anyways. You're done Satellites. Every possible escape route has been sealed off. You're totally trapped!" He sneered, "The only thing waiting for you down this road is a dead-end! And I mean that literally! You're heading straight for a wall!" Trudge pointed out as the all saw another doorway sealed.

They were driving down a hallway, straight towards yet another steel door…

_"Keep going."_ A familiar voice said. It just came out of Yusei's and Kurogasa's helmet, "Blister? Is that you?" Yusei asked.

_"Keep going forward."_

"But, uh—" Kurogasa began.

_"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" _Blister yelled.

"…Alright. Kurogasa, we have to move forward!"

"What? Are you crazy? We'll get smacked into the wall and be pancakes!"

"Just trust me and follow my lead!"

Kurogasa nodded and slammed the accelerator to keep up with Yusei. They went straight for the door.

"NO WAY! WHAT'RE YOU PUNKS DOING?"

They let out a battle cry as they sped inch after inch towards the steel door.

_"Duck!"_ Blister said over Yusei and Kurogasa's headsets. As they did, the door exploded in front of them and they plummeted off the edge, the two patrollers following after them. They all held on to their runners. They kept falling and falling for a couple more minutes.

_"Guys, brace yourselves."_ Blister said, "Next stop: _ground floor_!"

As he said that, they finally hit solid ground. When they zoomed out, however, before the two Trudge could act, it turned out that they were in an elevator shaft, and the door decided to close before he could get out! "Hey!"

"See ya', Trudge!" Kurogasa called.

"Alright, now to get out of here." Yusei said.

"Thanks Blister." Kurogasa said.

"_No need for thanks now. Just get yourselves outta there."_ Blister said.

Their celebration was short lived, however. Trudge busted through the door and across the balconies of the upper level. They ran through the railings and onto the lower level.

"Get back here!" Trudge said.

"Geez, you really don't know when to quit do you." Trudge said.

"You're not getting away that easily Satellite punks! Once I'm through with you, then I'm locking you up in the Facility permanently! Ore no ta-n!" Trudge said as he drew a card.

**Trudge's SPC: **3

**Yusei/Kurogasa:** 3

"Now I play the speed spell Overboost, which lets gives me 4 more speed counters, but goes back to one after I end my turn."

**Trudge's SPC: **7

**Yusei/Kurogasa:** 3

"Now I summon the tuner monster, Torapart! A blue portal opened and a bizarre creature something like a witch puppet appeared, its body ending in the upper thighs at some sort of black shield, with an identical puppet emerging from the other side (2) (ATK: 600/DEF: 600). "Then I activate my Call of the Haunted trap card! It lets me bring back a monster in attack mode, so I bring back my Search Striker!" The trap card glowed and Search Striker was back on the field.

"Now I tune my level 2 Torapart with level 4 Search Striker to synchro summon Goyo Guardian!" Trudge yelled as the events of a synchro summoning happened and he brought forth the dreaded kabuki warrior (6) (ATK: 2800/DEF: 2000).

"Now I activate these 2 speed spells, Sonic Buster! If I have 4 or mare Speed Counters, then I can deal damage equal to one half of one of my monster's attack points! In other words, it's Goyo Guardian!" The card glowed pink, went to the kabuki warrior and the pink energy went to Yusei and Kurogasa taking the damage.

**Trudge: **3300/**SPC: **7

**Yusei/Kurogasa: **1200/**SPC: **1

"Goyo Guardian, attack his Junk Warrior!" Trudge ordered. The kabuki warrior swung its jutte-and-rope and destroyed Junk Warrior into pixels.

**Trudge: **3300/**SPC: **7

**Yusei/Kurogasa: **700/**SPC: **1

Then Junk Warrior appeared over to Trudge's side of the field now all tied up by Goyo Guardian's rope. "Now when my Goyo Guardian attacks, the destroyed monster is special summoned to my field in defense mode. So I'll end my turn from there." Trudge said. Trudge speed counters dropped to 1.

**Trudge's SPC: **1

**Yusei/Kurogasa:** 1

"It's all up to you now Kurogasa, we have to win on this turn or we're done for." Yusei said.

"I know." Kurogasa said. '_But can I?' _Kurogasa thought.

"He's right, you only got one turn left, so ya better make it count." Trudge said. Kurogasa was silent for a while, then he let out a sigh and places his fingers on his deck. _'Don't fail me now deck.' _Kurogasa thought. "Ore no ta-n!"

**Trudge's SPC: **2

**Yusei/Kurogasa:** 2

Kurogasa looked at his card and smirked. "Game over."

"Huh?" Trudge asked.

"I said game over, for you that is. I play the speed spell, Count Up! I can only activate it if I have 2 or more speed counters. For each I discard I gain two speed counters and I discard two." Kurogasa then discard two cards.

**Trudge's SPC: **2

**Yusei/Kurogasa:** 6

"Next I activate one of Yusei's traps, Synchro Material! It lets me use any monster so I can I synchro summon."

"It what?" Trudge asked.

Now I summon the tuner monster, Haos El Condor!" The white and yellow Aztec creature appeared (3) (ATK: 1300/DEF: 1100). "And when he's summoned successfully, I can change one of my monster's level to the level needed for tuning. And I choose Junk Warrior! Changing it from 5 to 4.

Junk Warrior's level: 4

"And now I tune Yusei's level 4 Junk Warrior with my level 3 El Condor!" El Condor turned into 3 green rings and Junk Warrior was released Goyo Guardian's grasp and turned into 4 balls of light. The balls of light went lined up in the tunnel of rings.

_"Kurai kokoro no okusoko kara , sono megumi to anata no kokoro ni hikari o kagayaka seru! Shinkuro Shokan! Araware o! Haos Lars Lion!"_

A beam shot out of the rings and then the female armored angelic warrior appeared on the field (7) (ATK: 2500/DEF: 2000). "Now her ability activates, for every light monster including itself on the field, it gains 500 attacks points.

Haos Lars Lion- (ATK: 3000/DEF: 2000)

"Now I activate another one of Yusei's facedowns, the speed spell Wheelie Breaker!" Kurogasa yelled.

"No way! Yusei doesn't have that card in his deck!" Trudge pointed out.

"You're right, I don't. But he let me borrow it for a while." Yusei said.

*Flashback*

_Earlier before, Yusei and Kurogasa were in the big wooden crate. They were about to start their runners until Kurogasa stopped him._

"_Hold on Yusei. I want you to borrow this for a minute." Kurogasa said reaching into his deck box and pulled out the Wheelie Breaker spell card and gave it to Yusei._

"_Sure, but why?" Yusei asked._

"_Just in case…" Yusei was confused for a minute._

"_Just trust me on this one." Kurogasa said. Yusei shrugged and slid the card into his deck and then they started their duel runners._

*End flashback*

"And it's a good thing I did, because I needed 5 cards for my strategy to work, but I only had 4 when I started this turn. I wasn't gonna take any chances waiting next turn to beat you. That's why I let Yusei borrow it. So now for Wheelie Breaker's effect and you know what happens." Kurogasa said as he turned around and over Goyo Guardian turning him into pixels. "And now to finish you off for good. I play Yusei's last facedown, Synchro Strike! It gives my Haos Lars Lion 500 attack points for every monster used for the synchro summoning. I used two monsters, meaning it gets 1000 attack points and with the 3000 Lars Lion has now, I'd say that adds up to your defeat!" 2 beams went over to Lars Lion as she was given power.

Haos Lars Lion- (ATK: 4000/DEF: 2000)

"No! I won't let you!" Trudge said as Trudge used his runner to collide with Kurogasa's.

"Kurogasa!" Yusei cried.

"I don't care if I have to cheat to do it, but the only way you're getting out of here is with a Sector Security escort!"

"NO!" A voice said. From out of nowhere Blister managed to get in between the two runners and separate them.

"What the- Where did you come from?" Trudge asked as he and Blister battled it out as they smashed into each other. Blister managed to lock himself onto Trudge!

"Blister?" Yusei and Kurogasa said in surprise.

"Attack now!"

Yusei and Kurogasa were confused for a few seconds.

"What are you doing? Attack!" Blister said.

"I can't!" Kurogasa protested.

"Just do it! I'm doing you guys a big favor! So just do it! " Blister yelled.

"Alright, if you insist." Kurogasa said as he maneuvered his duel runner 90 degrees to his side. "Lars Lion, attack his life points directly and end this duel with Sagittarius Arrow!" Kurogasa ordered. Lars Lion formed a bow from her wrist then formed an arrow from her hand using light. She readied her bow and shot it. The arrow hit Trudge in the chest and there was an explosion of light. Trudge screamed as his life points depleted.

**Trudge: **0/**SPC: **0

**Yusei/Kurogasa: **700/**SPC: **6

Trudge's duel runner screen showed a big red X and steam was coming out of the duel runner and it screamed to a stop as Blister crashed along side.

"Blister!" Yusei called.

"Just get out of there!" Blister pleaded, "GOOOO!"

Blister's cries echoed through the building as Yusei and Jason continued onwards on their duel runners. The Satellite Duo burst through the main entrance of the impound center and were engulfed by a crowd of Securities wielding taser-batons. Without any other direction to go, they drove right through the crowd and suffered many painful electric shocks. Their screams of pain echoed around, but despite it all, they forced themselves to keep going. Pretty soon after, Yusei and Kurogasa swerved into a nearby alley They tried their best to avoid the obstacle in their way, but all was in vain as their runners crashed and threw him onto the ground. They weren't getting up anytime soon and the darkness took over them when they both fell unconscious.


	11. Chapter 10: The Black Rose

Here we go people. It's time for Chapter 10 of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Stardust Accelerator! Oh, and just to tell you on this chapter, I'll just skip the duel with Leo and just go on to meet the Black Rose. However, I will make it up to you with the Tag Team Tournament that was in the Stardust Accelerator, so you'll be able to see the duel between Kurogasa and a tag team partner of his choosing against Leo and Luna. Anyways, enjoy this chapter. It's going to be a long one.

Disclaimer: Same routine.

Chapter 10: The Black Rose

_Kurogasa was surrounded by complete darkness. The very jet-black veil seemed to go on for eternity. He couldn't see anything. Suddenly, a swarm of something red floated around him. Judging from the looks of it, he realized they were actually rose petals. As more and more appeared, Kurogasa suddenly felt a sharp pain cut across his left arm. He looked at the arm and saw that it was bleeding. One by one, the petals flew across him in different directions, accelerating in speed into a giant tornado, with Kurogasa in the eye of the storm; and each time one would pass by, a new one would appear. The petals were actually cutting his body._

_The petals suddenly changed course and then directed to a new area. Kurogasa soon found the source of their guidance: a giant red dragon with rose petals as its wings and black, long, thorn whips stood in front of him. And below it, was a mysterious figure. The figure looked like a woman. She has dark burgundy hair that was chin-length with the addition of long, elbow-length bangs that frame both sides of her face. She was wearing a white mask and was wearing a red dress and a black cloak over it with a hood over her head. She was carrying the standard duel disk only it has red in color. She points one of her hands at him. All the pedals enter into the dragon's mouth as and then the dragon fired the torrents of fire and petals directly at Kurogasa. It was coming at Kurogasa very fast and he braced himself until..._

Kurogasa gasped heavily as he jolted up from a couch he was laying down on. His heartbeat beated rapidly. His breathing was very heavy. Ice cold sweat fell from his face and was overcome with exhaustion.

"Whoa, take it easy there." A familiar voice said. Kurogasa turned his head around to see Yusei and there was a boy and girl next to him.

The boy has blue-green hair that pulled into a single, high ponytail with two shoulder-length bangs on both sides of his face. He wears a short-sleeved light blue jacket over a sleeveless dark blue shirt with golden markings. He also wears light blue shorts with a dark blue belt and blue sneakers of the same color and also has a bracelet on each wrist. He has gray-gold eyes. The girl also has green hair, but is done up in two high ponytails on either side of her head with two shoulder-length bangs on both sides of her face. She wears clothes that were similar to the boys, but the short-sleeved jacket was light pink over a long-sleeved dark red shirt with golden markings. She also wears light purple shorts with a red belt and sneakers with black and pink markings and high socks. She also has gray-gold eyes.

"Yusei..." Kurogasa said.

"You alright?" Yusei asked.

"Yeah... I'm fine. Where are we?"

"We're in the Tops."

"The Tops?" Kurogasa asked. He looked around the room and despite being all exhausted from that dream he had, he was quite impressed. It was a very well-furnished living room. Everything a person in New Domino City would want. Kurogasa got up to look out the window and sure he sees a pool outside only it was on top of a tall building. The house was on top of a tall building. He looked around more to see that the duel runners are safe too.

"Oh good, our runners are here." Kurogasa said relieved.

"These guys helped us out after we crashed on our runners." Yusei said introducing them. Kurogasa turned to the boy and girl.

"My name's Leo. And this is my younger sister Luna! We're twins!" The boy now called Leo greeted.

"It's nice to meet you." Luna said with a smile.

"I'm Kurogasa. Nice to meet you both." He greeted. "How long was I out?"

"You were still unconscious yesterday and stayed that way until now." Yusei said.

"And while we were waiting, me and Yusei dueled. Even though it was fun, I lost." Leo said.

"No to mention that you always cry every time you lose." Luna pointed out.

"C'mon Luna, you don't have to bring that up!" Leo said embarrassed.

"Anyways..." Kurogasa said changing the subject. "Thanks for taking care of me Leo and Luna. I appreciate it."

"You're welcome." Luna replied.

"Now let's duel!" Leo said out of the blue.

"Leo!" Luna shouted.

"What? I just wanted to duel him."

"You're such a birdbrain you know? You can't just ask people to duel like that!"

"It's alright Luna, I'll duel your brother." Kurogasa replied.

"Are you sure?" Yusei asked.

"Yeah. I'm sure."

"Yeah!" Leo yelled. The four of them went outside and Leo and Kurogasa went on opposite sides. And both activated their duel disks.

"You ready Leo?" Kurogasa asked.

"I'm ready when you are." Leo replied.

"Ookay. I better warn ya. My cards are really good, are you sure you want to duel me?"

"I can take it!"

"Ookay, I warned ya. Okay then, let's do this!"

*Later*

"Crap, I lost!" Leo said.

"I told ya my cards were good." Kurogasa said.

"I can't believe this..." Leo said as he started to tear up from his eyes.

"Oh, not again..." Luna groaned.

"Cheer up man, you did your best. You just need keep on practicing and strategizing. If you do that, I can guarantee ya that you can win a duel."

"Really?" Leo asked wiping his tears.

"Yeah."

"Alright... I'll definitely work hard!"

"Good."

Later on at night, Kurogasa and Yusei got their duel runners ready.

"So where are we headed?" Kurogasa asked.

"We're going back to Blister's place. If he's still there, we'll see if he can give us an apartment to stay at." Yusei said.

"And if not?"

"Well..."

"Are you guys leaving?" A voice asked. They turned around to see Luna standing in front of them. She was in her pink pajamas.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping? It's really late." Kurogasa said.

"I know, but I can't sleep. Kurogasa, can you stay here again tonight? I need to talk to you about something. It's about my brother and it's very important." Luna requested.

"I, uh-"

"Please?" Luna pleaded. Kurogasa stared into her grey-gold eyes. He knows that there's something bothering her. How could he refuse a girl's request?

"Alright." Kurogasa sighed. "Yusei you don't mind do you?"

"It's fine. I'm gonna head out now."

"Right. Be careful out there."

Yusei nodded, went into the elevator with his duel runner, and the elevator door closed. Kurogasa and Luna then sat on the couch.

"Okay Luna, what's up?" Kurogasa asked.

"It's about Leo. Tomorrow, he's going to the Daimon area."

"What for?"

"This might sound crazy, but he and a friend of his are going to try to challenge the Black Rose Witch."

"Black Rose Witch?"

"It's just an urban legend, but the Black Rose Witch is said to make any card she plays real and that she "erases" those she defeats. No one really knows what she looks like either. I got this bad feeling about it and Leo is going off without thinking like he always does."

Kurogasa was sitting there thinking about it. "Hmm... Even though it's just an urban legend, she sounds pretty dangerous. Okay, I'll see if I can make him not go."

"Thanks Kurogasa." Luna thanked.

"No problem, now I think it's time you should get some sleep." Kurogasa suggested. Luna nodded and then went back to her room. Kurogasa laid on the couch thinking about what Luna said.

_'Black Rose Witch huh? I wonder... That woman in my dream... could she be... Nah, it can't be.'_ Kurogasa thought and then he fell asleep.

The next morning, Kurogasa was working on his runner for a while. He was checking to make sure that Sector Security didn't do anything else funny with his runner. Suddenly, Luna came out of her room running to Kurogasa in a panic.

"Kurogasa!" Luna cried.

"Whoa Luna, calm down. What's going on?" Kurogasa asked.

"Leo's gone! I just woke up and he's not in his bed! He must've left earlier this morning to go to the Daimon area!"

"What?" Kurogasa said in shock. "Alright, I'm gonna go on my runner and find Leo. You stay here Luna." Kurogasa said. Luna nodded and then Kurogasa took his runner and deck and went in the elevator. As soon as he got on the ground floor, he started up his duel runner and then he sped off really fast. Kurogasa was on the highways dodging all the traffic so he can get to the Daimon area. '_Leo… where are you?'_ Kurogasa thought as he kept on going to the Daimon area. After an hour or two he finally arrived at the Daimon Area. He hid his runner in a dark alley where it won't get attention and took his duel disk and deck with him. And it's a good thing he remembers where stuff is too. He was walking around in the streets until he saw an area where people are gathered around. There was a duel going on. In the crowd, he saw Yusei, Tanner, Yanagi, and Blister. Kurogasa ran over to them.

"Hey Yusei!" Kurogasa called. Yusei, Tanner, and Yanagi noticed him coming over.

"Kurogasa, what are you doing here? And where's your runner?" Yusei asked.

"Don't worry; I hid it somewhere where it won't attract attention. I hid it in an alley somewhere." Kurogasa glanced at Tanner and Yanagi. "Hey Tanner, Yanagi, and Blister. It's been a while." He greeted.

"Yep, it has been." Yanagi replied.

"Yeah. I heard from Blister that you and Yusei got your runners back. Isn't that right Blister?"

"Yep. I tell ya, he's really something when he was turbo dueling Sector Security." Blister said.

"Hey Yusei, have you seen Leo around?" Kurogasa asked.

"Leo?"

Kurogasa explained what happened.

"What? That's kinda dangerous for him to be coming out here. And this Black Rose Witch seems dangerous too, despite being just an urban legend. Anyways, I haven't seen Leo anywhere. If you thought you got bad news, I got some too. Look at this." Yusei said as he took a small envelope and gave to Kurogasa. He opened it and saw an invitation.

"The Fortune Cup?" Kurogasa asked.

"Look what else is inside." Yusei said. Kurogasa noticed that there was something else in the envelope. He pulled it out and there was a photo of Rally, Blitz, Nervin, and Tank. Kurogasa gasped and raised his eyebrows at this.

"A person from the Public Security Maintenance Bureau gave that to me. He said that if I don't compete in the Fortune Cup, Rally and the others will suffer the consequences."

"Who would want to do that?" Kurogasa asked.

"I don't know, but if were gonna save Rally and the others then we're probably gonna have to compete in the Fortune Cup."

"But I don't have an invitation. I won't be able to help you save Rally and everyone else."

"Oh, the man also had another invitation. It was for you." Yusei said as he gave Kurogasa's invitation to him. Kurogasa opened the envelope and there was an invitation for him too and there was a note for him too. He read it to himself. _'If you want to know about your origins, I suggest you enter in the Fortune Cup, otherwise you friends will suffer the consequences.'_ Kurogasa crumpled up the note in anger.

"Whoever is doing this is not going to get away with this." Kurogasa said angrily.

"Yeah. Also I got this." Yusei said as he showed Stardust Dragon to him.

"Wait, is that-" Kurogasa began, but Yusei finished. "Yep. It's my Stardust Dragon. Jack came by and gave it to me, so he and I can finally finish settling our score."

"That dragon is one of the dragons that helped the Crimson Dragon defeat evil 5000 years ago. And I bet' cha that Jack's dragon is also one of the dragons that helped the Crimson Dragon." Yanagi explained.

"Hey Yusei! Kurogasa!" A voice called. The group turned around to see Leo and a friend of his coming towards them. Leo's friend had brown hair that went down to his neck, has red eyes wearing square glasses, a collar shirt with a red bow tie, and wearing shorts that had straps that go on his shoulders.

"Leo! There you are! Where were ya? Luna's been worried sick about you. And besides, you're not even supposed to _be _here!" Kurogasa said.

"Sorry about that. It's because my friend here, Dexter came up with a deck that can defeat the Black Rose Witch." Leo explained.

"Huh?"

"Yeah. It took me a while, but I finally came up with a deck that can beat for sure." Dexter said. Leo then noticed the invitations for Kurogasa and Yusei.

"Hey! You two are also entering the Fortune Cup?" Leo asked.

"Yeah." Yusei said.

"Why do you ask?"Kurogasa asked.

"Yeah! I get to duel you guys again! You see, my sister Luna is competing too, but she doesn't feel like it, so I'm taking her place impersonating her, since I'm her twin and all."

"Are you sure that's even a good idea?" Kurogasa asked.

"Of course it is! They won't know the difference." Leo said.

"I don't knoow. Hold on! This isn't the time to be talking about that, you two should be getting home!" Kurogasa said.

"Aw c'mon!" Leo complained.

"No arguments! You two are going home now." Kurogasa said. '_Geez, I'm acting like a parent.'_ He thought. Then suddenly Kurogasa felt pain in his right arm. He knelt down on one knee and was trying to hold the pain. Yusei also felt pain on his right arm.

"Yusei!" Leo cried.

"Kurogasa!" Tanner said in the same expression.

"Are you two okay?" Yanagi asked.

"I don't know, but my arm feels like its burning!" Kurogasa said/

"It's like that time, when… the Crimson Dragon appeared." Yusei said.

"It's the Witch!" A person shouted.

"Run for your lives!" Another yelled. The crowd started to run away from something. Then big black thorn vines started to come out of the ground and some attached to the sides of buildings. One of them went towards the group. Kurogasa and Yusei dodged it, but Leo, Dexter, and Yanagi had to jump out of the way. A sudden whirlwind appeared out of nowhere. A dust cloud formed in the area and then a silhouette of a dragon appeared.

"What the- What is that?" Yusei asked.

"Your guess is as good as mine." Kurogasa answered.

Kurogasa and Yusei both felt more pain coming from their arm. When Yusei uncovered it, there it was, he had the mark of the Crimson Dragon's Tail.

"Hey! Where did you get that? That is _definitely not_ a tattoo." Tanner said..

"There's no mistaking it. It's a birthmark of the Crimson Dragon!" Yanagi said. Leo looked at Yusei when he saw the mark. _'A birthmark of the Crimson Dragon?' _Leo thought.

"Kurogasa rolled up his sleeve and sure enough there was a birthmark on his arm. Only it wasn't like Yusei's. It was a semi-diamond shaped and it looked like a body of some sort of long-serpentine like creature. Kurogasa's eyes widened when he saw this and then a sudden jolt hit his head from the inside. A piece of memory was coming back to him.

*Flashback*

_Jason could see nothing but pure darkness. That was because he's been enduring too much excruciating agony to keep his eyes open. He was strapped onto a steel platform 45-degrees standing, with his wrist, ankles, and even his head bounded in metal clamps. His right arm feels like its being carved into, as a laser drew a foreign shape on it. Aside from his screaming, he could hear a voice coming from a speaker somewhere in the room. It was gentle-like and elderly. "Just hold out a little longer Kurogasa. It'll all be over soon."_

*End Flashback*

As soon as the flashback ended, he snapped back into reality. Yanagi also saw Kurogasa's birthmark.

"Whoa! You also have a birthmark too?" Yanagi asked.

"I guess. I mean I have no clue how this mark got on me." Kurogasa said. He then saw Yusei running into the dust cloud with Leo following him. "Yusei!" Kurogasa cried as he went after him. He came up to Yusei and Leo and soon the rest of the group followed. The dragon then suddenly disappeared. An orb of electricity was surrounding a figure and then the figure was revealed. Kurogasa was really shocked of who it was.

"No way… That's the woman I saw in my dream!" Kurogasa said.

"What?" Yusei asked.

"While I was unconscious, I had a dream. These rose petals were surrounding me and were cutting me and those petals went to another direction and it went over to a dragon and below that dragon was her. Dark burgundy hair, a white mask, a red dress and a black cloak over it with a hood over her head, and a red duel disk. She's fits the bill."

"The woman known as the Black Rose Witch stood there and then she saw Yusei and Kurogasa's mark on their arms. She was shocked to see it.

"You two! You two also bear this wretched mark!" Black Rose said.

Yusei and Kurogasa were surprised to hear it. They look at their marks and they look back at her. '_What? Could she have a birthmark too?'_Kurogasa thought.

"It has to be banished! They must be rid of from this world! And I'll do that by eliminating them one by one! Starting with you!" Black Rose said pointing at Kurogasa. Kurogasa took a step back. He wasn't sure if he duel someone like her that can make any card she plays real.

"If you won't duel, then I'll force you to duel!" Black Rose said as she waved her hand. His left arm with his duel disk attached started to move on its own and the disk activated on its own.

"Kurogasa! What are you doing?" Leo asked.

"I'm not doing anything! My arm's moving by itself! It looks like she's doing it and she's not giving me any choice." Kurogasa answered. "Alright, if dueling you is the only way to get out of this, so be it!" He said. The two duelists drew their five cards as the other watched carefully.

"DUEL!"

**Kurogasa:** 4000

**Black Rose: **4000

"Watashi no ta-n! Doro!" Black Rose said as she drew her sixth card. "I summon my Wall of Ivy in defense mode!" A big piece of stone covered of large roots with thorns and ivy on top appeared (2) (ATK: 300/DEF: 1200). "Then I'll place one facedown and end my turn."

"Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa as he drew his sixth card. "I summon my Haos Robattalion in attack mode!" The white and yellow robot appeared on the field (2) (ATK: 900/DEF: 900). "And on the turn it's summoned, it attack points double until the end of the battle phase. Robattalion with surging with power as its attack doubled.

Haos Robattalion- (ATK: 1800/DEF: 900)

"Haos Robattalion, uproot that Wall of Ivy!" Kurogasa commanded. Robattalion fired a beam at the wall of ivy and then it was destroyed into pixels. "You just activated my Wall of Ivy's special ability. Whenever it is targeted, an Ivy Token gets special summoned on your side of the field. The Token was then placed on the field (1) (ATK: 0/DEF: 0).

"But why on my field?" Kurogasa asked himself. "I'll place a facedown and end my turn." Robattalion attacks points went back to normal.

"I don't get it. Why is there an Ivy Token on Kurogasa's field?" Yanagi asked.

"There's gotta be reason why it's there." Yusei wondered.

"Watashi no ta-n!" Black Rose said as she drew her card. "I activate the Continuous Trap, Cursed Ivy! Its effect allows me to special summon an Ivy Monster from my graveyard in face-up defense mode, so I bring back my Wall of Ivy." Thorn branches came out of the card and went in the ground to bring back Wall of Ivy. And when my Cursed Ivy is equipped to Wall of Ivy and is removed from the field then the equipped monster gets destroyed. And with that, I'll end my turn."

'_What is she doing? She's probably testing out the waters, but something tells me that something big is coming up.'_ Kurogasa thought. "Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa said as he drew his card. "I'll release my Haos Robattalion to advance summon my Haos Tuskor!" Robattalion vanished and what took its place was a white and yellow elephant that has small teeth inside of its trunk (5) (ATK: 2000/DEF: 2000). "And next I play the spell card, Rapid Haos. I can special summon a monster my from my hand or deck as long as I have a light monster on the field and I special summon my Haos Tentaclar from my deck in attack mode!" A white eyeball with six tentacles appeared (3) (ATK: 1350/DEF: 1550). Haos Tentaclar attack Wall of Ivy with MegaFlare Blinder!" Kurogasa commanded. Tentaclar shined light from its eyes that was really blinding and it attacked with one of its tentacles.

"Don't forget that when Wall of Ivy is targeted, an Ivy Token is special summoned on your side of the field in defense mode. Another Ivy Token appeared on Kurogasa's side of the field.

"There's another one." Yanagi said as Tentaclar destroyed Wall of Ivy into pixels and the Cursed Ivy trap destroyed.

"When Cursed Ivy is destroyed, then it special summons two more Ivy Tokens to the field, but since there's only one space left on your field, I guess that'll do." One more Ivy Token appeared on Kurogasa's side.

"Haos Tuskor attack her life points directly with Nose Slap!" Kurogasa ordered. The elephant charged her like it was in a stampede with other elephants and it slapped her with its nose. She slid back a couple feet.

**Kurogasa:** 4000

**Black Rose: **2000

"I end my turn." Kurogasa finished.

"Watashi no ta-n!" Black Rose said as she drew a card. "I play the spell card, Seed of Deception! It lets special summon a level 2 or lower plant type monster from my hand. And I special summon Dark Verger!" A plant with two leaves with an eye on each one appeared (2) (ATK: 0/DEF: 1000). "Now I release my Dark Verger to advance summon Rose Tentacles!" Dark Verger disappeared and what replaced it was a big rose with two small yellow eyes and a lot of green thorny whips (6) (ATK: 2200/DEF: 1200). "Rose Tentacles, attack his Haos Tentaclar with Thorn Whip!" Black Rose ordered. One of its thorn whips went towards Tentaclar.

"Not so fast, because I activate Tentaclar's special ability. If it is targeted, then it negates your monster's attack! Flare Blinder!" Kurogasa said. Tentaclar shined light from its eye and the attack stopped.

"Yes. But my attacks don't stop there. After that battle, it gains 1 additional attack this turn for each face-up Plant-Type monster your opponent controls. And every time it destroys a Plant-Type monster by battle, I can inflict 300 damage to you. And when an Ivy Token is destroyed, you get 300 points of damage.

"Wait, so 300 from Rose Tentacles plus 300 from each Ivy Token equals…" Leo said.

"Dude, that's 600 points of damage whenever Rose Tentacles attacks an Ivy Token! Since there's 3 Ivy Tokens…" Dexter began, but Tanner finished. "…that's 1800 points of damage."

"1800 points of damage?" Yanagi cried.

"That's not good." Blister said.

"Thorn Whip One!" Black Rose said and one of its whips went and destroyed an Ivy Token and a big gust of wind blew suddenly from how much force the whip threw. Then the thorn whip wrapped around Kurogasa left arm and it squeezed tight on him. As it was squeezing his left arm, Kurogasa winced in pain as the small thorns punctured his arm.

'_What the- What is this? I'm actually feeling pain from the thorns.' _Kurogasa thought.

**Kurogasa:** 3400

**Black Rose: **2000

"Thorn Whip Two!" Black Rose said as a second Thorn destroyed a second Ivy Token and now it's got a hold of Kurogasa other arm. Kurogasa winced at the pain from his other arm as the thorns went into his arm.

**Kurogasa:** 2800

**Black Rose: **2000

"Last Thorn Whip!" Black Rose ordered as a third thorn whip went towards the final token and the same thing happened. And then the third whip wrapped around his body and Kurogasa cried in pain as the thorns punctured this body. Rose Tentacles raised him up from the ground a few feet and then slammed him to the ground.

**Kurogasa:** 2200

**Black Rose: **2000

"I'll end my turn with a facedown." Black Rose said.

Kurogasa got up slowly from the ground. His clothes have holes as well as his body and blood stained his white jacket sleeves and his gold t-shirt. Kurogasa was struggling to get up and he was coughing out a little blood and covered it up with his right hand.

"Kurogasa!" Leo cried.

"So it's true. Every card she plays _is_ real…" Dexter said.

"He's gonna lose more blood if this keeps up." Blister said with worry.

'_I gotta end this quick or I'm gonna get killed.'_ Kurogasa thought. "What's wrong? Can't continue on?" Black Rose asked.

"I can still fight. Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa said as put his bloody hand on his deck and drew a card. "I play the spell card Attribute Change! I can change a monster's attribute on the field and I change Rose Tentacles attribute to dark. And soon Rose Tentacles flower color turned black.

"Why would you do that?" Black Rose asked.

"I play the spell, Darkus and Haos Correlation! This can only work if there is a dark and light attribute monster on the field. The dark attribute monster loses 1000 of its attack points and gets added to the light monster of my choosing and I choose my Haos Tentaclar!" The dark energy went from Rose Tentacles to Tentaclar converting the dark energy to light energy.

Haos Tentaclar- (ATK: 2350/DEF: 1550)

Rose Tentacles- (ATK: 1200/DEF: 1200)

"Now Haos Tuskor! Attack Rose Tentacles with Nose Slap!" Tuskor charged at the rose and slapped it with its nose. And the rose was no more.

**Kurogasa:** 2200

**Black Rose: **1200

"Haos Tentaclar finish it off!" Kurogasa commanded. Tentaclar shined light from its eye blinding her and then one of the tentacles was going for her.

"I activate my Mirror Force trap card! It destroys all monsters on my opponent's side of the field!" Black Rose said. A clear mirror appeared in front of Black Rose and as soon Tuskor hit it, the elephant flew back and hit Tentaclar and both of his monsters were destroyed.

"Grr… I end my turn." Kurogasa said.

"Watashi no ta-n! Doro!" Black Rose said and drew a card. "Now I summon the tuner monster, Copy Plant!" Black Rose said. A coiled branch stump with a few twigs and green eyes appeared (1) (ATK: 0/DEF: 0).

"That's a tuner monster! If she has that-" Yanagi began.

"Yeah, she's gonna be tuning." Yusei finished.

"Now I tune my level 6 Rose Tentacles with my level 1 Copy Plant!" Black Rose said. Copy turned into a green ring and Rose Tentacles into 6 spheres of light. The spheres of light lined up into the green ring.

"_Tsumetai honoo ga sekai no subete wo tsutsumikomu! Shikkoku no hana yo, hirake! Shinkuro Shoukan! Araware o, Burakku Roozu Doragon!" _(1)

A beam shot out of the ring and then a black dragon with big red rose petals as its wings with black thorn whips appeared (7) (ATK: 2400/DEF: 1800).Kurogasa's eyes widened when he saw it. "This must be the dragon I saw in my dream." Kurogasa said to himself.

"Now Black Rose Dragon, attack his life points directly with Black Rose Flare!" Black Rose Dragon opened its mouth up and breathed rose petals and purple flames out of its mouth and it was going towards Kurogasa.

"KUROGASA!" Everyone cried.

"I activate my Negate Attack trap card! It stops your attack and ends the battle phase immediately!" Kurogasa said and then a clear vortex appeared and sucked the Black Rose Flare in.

"Phew… I thought he was done for there." Leo said.

"Yeah. Me too. I thought he was done." Yanagi said.

"When it comes to dueling, Kurogasa can get out of any situation." Tanner said.

"I just hope he can get out of this one." Yusei added.

"I end my turn." Black Rose said. Kurogasa's vision was starting to get blurry. Due to losing the blood from his body and arms. But he had to keep going. He has to win this duel. He shook his head trying to wake himself up and soon he regained his vision.

"Ore no… ta-n!" Kurogasa said and drew the card he needed. "I play the spell card Monster Reborn! This lets me bring a monster back from either graveyard and now I bring back my Haos Tuskor!" The elephant then returned to the field. "Now I summon the tuner monster Haos El Condor!" The creature with the big Aztec mask appeared on the field (3) (ATK: 1300/DEF: 1100). "Now I tune my level 5 Tuskor with my level 3 El Condor!" El Condor turned into 3 green rings and Tuskor turned into 5 spheres of light. The spheres of light lined up in the tunnel of rings.

"_Shinzou no tamashii ga , piasu no hikari o kensaku to yami o uchikudaku! Shinkuro Shoukan! Araware o, Haos Omega Leonidas!"_

A beam of light shot out of the rings and enveloped them and then the white and yellow dragon appeared (8) (ATK: 3000/DEF: 2500). "And now… I activate Leonidas's special ability! Once per turn, I can choose 1 light monster from my graveyard and half of the chosen monster's attack points gets added to Omega Leonidas attack points and I choose my Haos Tuskor!" a faint image of Tuskor appeared and went through Leonidas and then it gave the dragon power. "Tuskor's attack points were originally 2000. So half of that gets transferred to my dragon. Leonidas has 3000 attack points. Add it with the 1000 and his attack points become 4000!" Kurogasa said.

Haos Omega Leonidas- (ATK: 4000/DEF: 2500).

Kurogasa's vision started to get more blurry. He shook his head trying to regain vision again. HE had to finish it quick or he'll faint. "Leonidas finish it off with Omega Eraser!"Kurogasa ordered. Leonidas opened its mouth and launched a huge beam from its mouth. Black Rose Dragon tried to counter with its Black Rose Flare. The attacks collided for a few seconds, but Omega Eraser was the better power and Black Rose Dragon was destroyed into pixels. Black Rose protected herself as her life points depleted.

**Kurogasa:** 2200

**Black Rose: **0

The holograms faded and Black Rose stood there. Everyone else ran up to Kurogasa as he was about to fall. Yusei caught him and carried one of his arms onto his shoulders . Everyone looked at her. "Stay away from me!" Black Rose said as she puts a card in her disk and a tower of light surrounded her. Everyone shielded their eyes from the light and when it died down, only electricity sparked up from the ground. And all of the damage the Black Rose Witch made still remained.

"She's gone." Tanner said.

"Not that's what I call an exit from the ages! What do you think her encore looks like?" Yanagi asked.

"I don't plan on finding out. Dexter said.

"Kurogasa, are you okay?" Leo asked the weary Kurogasa.

"Yeah… I'm fine…" Kurogasa said.

"The Black Rose said that you two also bear the mark. What does she mean by that?" Blister asked. Yusei and Kurogasa looked at their arms and noticed their marks weren't there. Everyone else were surprised by this.

"It's… gone…" Kurogasa said weakly.

"Where did it go?" Leo asked.

"Vanished! Like magic!" Yanagi added.

"Something tells me that we won't be seeing the last of her." Yusei said.

"Yeah… Now if you guys don't mind… I'll be out cold for a while…" Kurogasa said and then he fainted almost dropping to the ground until Yusei caught him again. Everyone got really worried when he fainted. Blister checked his pulse.

"He's fine. Like he said, he's just out cold." Blister said. "I'll go find his runner. Meanwhile, you guys take him to my place and you two kids should get home." Everyone nodded. Blister went to find Kurogasa's duel runner while Yusei, Tanner, and Yanagi helped Kurogasa up to go to Blister's apartment.

(1)- "Chilling flames engulf the entire world! Pitch-dark flower, set into bloom! Synchro Summon! Appear now, Black Rose Dragon!


	12. Chapter 11: Tag Team Tournament

It's time to get to the Tag Team Tournament and as a bonus; Kurogasa will get the rest of his memories back! Also, this will be a short tag team duel. Enjoy this chapter!

Disclaimer: Same thing.

Chapter 11: Tag Team Tournament

A few days have passed since the Black Rose has struck in the Daimon area. During those few days, Kurogasa was being treated by Yusei and Blister in Blister's apartment. They've covered the holes that were on both of his arms and his body with bandages and his clothes were washed, dried, and sewn. Kurogasa was slowly recovering and he was able to walk as long as he doesn't overdo it. He is also able to duel again too.

"How are you feeling?" Yusei asked.

"I'm getting better. I'm still kinda wobbly though." Kurogasa said.

"Just as long as you don't overdo it, you'll do fine." Blister replied. Just then Tanner and Yanagi came in to Blister's apartment along with Leo and Luna.

"Hey guys. How's it going?" Tanner greeted.

"Hey…" Kurogasa greeted back.

"How are you feeling Kurogasa?" Luna asked.

"I'm doing pretty well." Kurogasa answered. Leo then came up to Kurogasa. He looked ashamed. "What's wrong?" He asked.

"Well… I just want to say sorry. I feel like that it's my fault that you got injured by the Black Rose Witch just because I and Dexter went to find her. I'm sorry." Leo apologized and his eyes started to tear up.

"It's not your fault Leo. It was the Black Rose's fault that I got injured. Not yours. So don't worry about it." Kurogasa said.

"But I still feel bad though. I wanna make it up to you." Leo said.

"Wow. That bad huh? Alright, if you feel _that _bad, then I'll take up your offer. So how are you going to make it up?" Kurogasa asked.

"Well, there's a Tag Team Tournament today over at the Kaiba Dome and I thought that you would like to come along with me and my sister. We're gonna be competing in it. I want you to compete too, but you need to have a partner for a Tag Team Duel." Leo explained.

"Huh… okay. Well, I need a partner. Anyone who would like to volunteer?" Kurogasa asked. There was silence around the room until Blister spoke up. "I'll duel with ya. I got nothing else better to do, so I got time." Blister said.

"Then it's settled! Let's get going!" Leo said.

Kurogasa, Blister, Leo, and Luna then left the Daimon Area and then went over to the city. They were walking in the city until Kurogasa noticed a lot of TV's on display at a store. There was something on fire on the TV, so being the curious guy; he looked to see what it was. It was the news and there was a car accident on the highway and it was on fire. That was then his head started jolting up again. A piece of his memory was coming back to him. No, scratch that, the rest of his memory was coming back to him.

*Flashback- 10 years ago*

_Kurogasa was starting to remember everything now. He remembers his father being the president of a company that made duel runners. They made the Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Omega Frames and that he and his mother were very close friends with Director Goodwin. This would explain the flashback he had at the Facility when he saw Goodwin. He also remembered drawing his duel monster cards and that it was the winner of a contest that involved creating your own deck and he had that ever since. Then he saw that he was in the car with his parents and then another car crashed into theirs which was very fatal. He was the only one that survived. Goodwin took him in and looked after him for 10 years or so._

_Then Kurogasa remembers Goodwin telling him about the Crimson Dragon and how the Signers saved the world from evil._

"_Kurogasa, have you ever heard of the Crimson Dragon?" Goodwin asked._

"_No, I haven't." Kurogasa answered._

"_Well, about 5000 years ago, an evil threaten the entire world. The People of the Stars, called upon the "Dragon Star" to save their land from destruction. The star answered their call and came down from the heavens in the form of the Crimson Dragon. The Dragon had servants to help him and they were known as Signers. That evil is about to rise again. I need to find another way to call the Crimson Dragon and save the world rather than finding the descendants of the original signers. Will you help me?"_

"_Yes. I'll help you. After all, you did help take care of me after my parents died and all. I'm grateful for that and I want to repay you back." Kurogasa_

"_Very well then."_

_The next flashback shows Kurogasa strapped onto the steel platform 45-degree standing, with his wrist, ankles, and even his head bounded in metal clamps. His right arm was being carved into, as a laser drew a foreign shape on it. Aside from his screaming, he could hear Goodwin's voice coming from a speaker somewhere in the very large room. _

_"Just hold out a little longer Kurogasa. It'll all be over soon." Goodwin said._

"_Sir! The power generator is overloading! It's about to explode!" A scientist said._

"_Keep going!" Goodwin said. But it was too late. As soon as the carving was done, the generator exploded. The force of the explosion made the steel platform and the cuffs break and Kurogasa was flown back and hit his head hard. When the cloud cleared, Goodwin came into the room and went up to Kurogasa._

"_Are you alright?" Goodwin asked. Kurogasa looked at Goodwin._

"_Who are you? Where am I?" Kurogasa asked. Goodwin was surprised._

'_His head must've hit really hard.' Goodwin thought. "It's alright Kurogasa, I won't hurt you." Goodwin said._

"_Stay away from me!" Kurogasa shouted. He was afraid._

'_He must've hit his head REALLY hard.' Goodwin thought._

"_I gotta get out here now!" Kurogasa said and he ran outside the room. He found his clothes and put them on and found his deck and took it. Then he was trying to find a way out. He found an unfinished runner in another room. It was the very first runner that Yusei made though Kurogasa didn't know who made that at the time. Security was going after him and then he got to the runner and turned it on. He then sped out of that room and through the hallway and sped out of the window breaking the glass. Luckily for him, it was on the first floor and it was in the middle of the night. As he drove for a couple hours, Security was closing in on him and the security officer that was on his runner forced him into a turbo duel. So the duel began and as it went on, they went through the Pipeline which was still in maintenance and Kurogasa managed to win with his deck._

_Kurogasa got out of the Pipeline and was going through Satellite until the runner broke down. Kurogasa tried to control it, but he couldn't. He crashed and was sent flying off the runner he rolled on the ground as the runner exploded. After the explosion, Kurogasa slowly got back up and continued walking through the streets of Satellite and then he came up to the end of an alley, fell to the ground, blacked out._

_The next day, He was then found by Rally._

*End Flashback*

Kurogasa? Kurogasa?" Luna asked.

"Snap out of it man!" Leo said waving his hand in front of his face. Kurogasa then snapped back into reality.

"Huh?"

"You okay?" Blister asked.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine." Kurogasa replied.

"Well, C'mon let's get going. We don't want to be late." Leo said as he, Blister, and Luna left. Kurogasa then followed.

'_I remember now…'_Kurogasa thought.

They got to the Kaiba Dome and it was very crowded at the entrance. The four were able to get through the crowd so they can register for the tournament. At the registration table, the MC was there.

"Hello there! Are you four going to compete in the Tag Team Tournament?" The MC asked.

"Yep. My sister and I are partners." Leo said.

"Alrighty then, I'll need your names."

"I'm Leo and this is my twin sister Luna." Leo said.

"Okay, got them in. And what about you two?" The MC asked.

"Yeah. He and I are tag team partners too. I'm Kurogasa and this is Blister."

"Okay. I got your names in. The four of you enter here and we'll start the tournament soon." The MC said pointing to the entrance.

"Thanks." Kurogasa said and he and the others went in the entrance of the Kaiba Dome.

A few hours later, the stadium was filled already and the Tag Team Tournament was about to begin. The duelists are in the waiting room getting ready for their duels. Just then the MC started to speak.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, BOYS AND GIRLS, WELCOME TO THE NEW DOMINO CITY TAG TEAM TOURNAMENT! I HOPE YOU PEOPLE ARE READY FOR LOTS OF TAG TEAM DUELING! 8 TAG TEAMS WILL BE COMPEITING AND ONLY ONE CAN WIN! SO LET'S GET THIS SHOW STARTED!" The MC announced from the microphone. The crowd cheered with excitement. As the day went by, Kurogasa, Blister, Leo , and Luna were beating the other tag teams. It was then time for the final battle.

"THIS IS IT FOLKS! THE FINAL TAG TEAM DUEL! LET's INTRODUCE THEM ONE MORE TIME!" The MC announced. The screens showed the pictures of Leo and Luna & Kurogasa and Blister.

"WHEN IT COMES TO TWIN POWER, LEO AND LUNA ARE THE ONES THAT GET THE JOB DONE! CAN THEY WIN AGAINST THE TAG TEAM POWER OF KUROGASA AND BLISTER? YOU'LL JUST HAVE TO FIND OUT AND SEE!" The MC announced. A deafening roar of cheering people filled the stadium.

"Alright, this is it!" Kurogasa said.

"Let's have a good duel!" Luna smiled.

"We're gonna win this, that's for sure!" Leo said with confidence.

"May the best tag team win." Blister added.

"DUELISTS ARE YOU READY? SET? START!" MC yelled. The four duelists activated their duel disks and they drew their first five cards.

"DUEL!"

**Kurogasa/Blister: **4000

**Leo/Luna: **4000

"Ore no ta-n!" Leo said as he drew his sixth card from his deck. "I summon my Morphtronic Celfon in attack mode!" A yellow cell phone appeared on the field and then it transformed into a robot (1) (ATK: 100/DEF: 100). "And gets this, whenever it is in attack position I can activate its special ability. Celfon picks a random number from 1 to 6. Whatever number it picks, I draw cards equal to that number and if I draw a Morphtronic monster I get to special summon it and then shuffle the other cards back into the other deck. Now dial on!" The numbers 1-6 kept on blinking until it stopped on 3. "Awesome a three! That means I draw three cards." Leo then drew 3 cards and on the third card…

"Awesome! A Morphtronic monster! I special summon my Morphtronic Magnen in attack mode!" Leo said as he puts his card on the disk. A magnet then appeared and then transformed (3) (ATK: 800/DEF: 800). He shuffles the other 2 cards he drew back into his deck. "I'll place a facedown and end my turn." Leo finished.

"It's my move." Blitz said as he drew _his _sixth card. "I summon my Machina Soldier in attack mode!" A green robot with a big blade appeared (4) (ATK: 1600/DEF: 1600). "And If I summon him with no other monsters on my side of the field, I can special summon another Machina monster other than Machina Soldier and I special summon my Machina Sniper in attack mode!" A robot with a sniper rifle appeared (4) (ATK: 1800/DEF: 800). "Also other Machina monsters can't be attacked other than Machina Sniper. Now Machina Soldier attack Morphtronic Magnen!" Blister ordered. The green robot was about to strike at the magnet.

"I activate my Morphtransition trap card! Whenever a Morphtronic monster is attacked, then it is negated and the selected monster switches its mode." Leo said. The blade was about to collide with Magnen until a force field showed up, the attack stopped, and then Magnen switched from attack to defense. "Machina Sniper attack his Magnen also!" Blister said. The sniper robot took aim at the robot and shot a bullet from its rifle and the magnet was destroyed into pixels.

"I'll end my turn with a facedown." Blister said.

"Watashi no ta-n!" Luna said as she drew her card. "I summon my Sunlight Unicorn in attack mode!" Luna said as a white unicorn with light-blue flames on its mane, hooves, and tail (4) (ATK: 1800/DEF: 1000). "Then I activate my spell Horn of the Unicorn which gives my unicorn another 700 attack points." The gold horn was attached into Sunlight Unicorn and electricity was sparking out of it.

Sunlight Unicorn- (ATK: 2500/DEF: 1000)

"Now attack his Machina Sniper!" Luna ordered. The Unicorn charged at the sniper robot and soon as the horn came in contact, the robot overloaded and exploded.

**Kurogasa/Blister: **3300

**Leo/Luna: **4000

"I'll place a facedown and end my turn." Luna finished.

"Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa said as he drew his sixth card. "I summon my Haos Siege in attack mode!" The white knight with its silk cape and Haos staff showed (4) (ATK: 1900/DEF: 1400). "Next I play Attribute Change! I can change one monster's attribute on the field. And I change Sunlight Unicorn's attribute to dark." Kurogasa said and then the flames changed from blue to purple.

"Oh man, I know what's coming up next. I've seen this move before." Leo said.

"Now I activate the spell card, Darkus and Haos Correlation! It can only work if there's a light and dark attribute monster on the field. The dark monster loses 1000 attack points and gets added to the light monsters attack points!" Dark energy transferred from Sunlight Unicorn to Haos Siege as it converted to light energy.

Sunlight Unicorn- (ATK: 1500/DEF: 1000)

Haos Siege- (ATK: 2900/DEF: 1400)

"Now attack Sunlight Unicorn!" Kurogasa commanded. Haos Siege charged at the unicorn with its staff ready to be thrust.

"I activate my Mirror Force trap card! It reflects your attacks back at you and all monsters in attack position are destroyed!" Luna said as a mirror formed in front of the unicorn.

"Sorry, but I activate Blister's trap card, Trap Jammer! It can only be activated during battle phase and it destroys the trap card you activated." Kurogasa said. The mirror shattered to piece and then it went for Sunlight Unicorn. It stabbed the horse making the animal cry in pain and then shattering into pixels.

**Kurogasa/Blister: **3300

**Leo/Luna: **2600

"Now Machina Soldier, attack Celfon!" Kurogasa ordered. The green soldier slashed at the robot cell phone with its blade and was reduced to nothing.

**Kurogasa/Blister: **3300

**Leo/Luna: **1100

"And I'll end my turn with a facedown." Kurogasa finished.

"Ore no ta-n!" Leo said as he drew his card. "Sweet! I summon the tuner monster, Morphtronic Remoten!" A white remote appeared and then transformed by stretching its arms and legs and 2 green circles appeared on the black rectangle. "Then I play a spell card known as Junk Box which lets me summon back a Morphtronic monster from my graveyard whose level is 4 or lower and I bring back my Morphtronic Celfon!" Leo said and then the yellow cell phone robot was back on the field. "Then I play another spell, Level Mirroring! I can mirror one of your monster's level and a monster's level I control will be equal to that, so I mirror your Haos Siege's level so Celfon's level is 4!" A mirror showed and it showed a reflection of the knight and then it went to Celfon and the mirror shattered.

Morphtronic Celfon's level: 4

"Now I tune my level 4 Celfon with my level 3 Remoten!" Leo said as the words 'TUNING' appeared on the black screen and then the remote turned into 3 greens rings and Celfon turned into 4 spheres of light. The spheres of light lined up in the tunnel of rings.

"_Sekai no heiwa o mamoru tame, yuuki to chikara o dokkingu! Shinkuro Shoukan! Ai to seigi no shisha, Pawa Tsuru Doragon! _"(1)

A beam shot out of the rings and then a mechanical yellow dragon with big red lenses for its eyes with a blue shovel like arm and green drill-like arm appeared (7) (ATK: 2300/DEF: 2500).

"That's not good." Kurogasa said.

"There's more where that came from. I activate Power Tool Dragon's ability. My deck selects an equip card at random and I get to use it." Leo said as his duel disk shuffle his deck and then an equip card was chosen when a card was stuck out of the deck and Leo took it. "Yeah, now I play the spell card, Double Tool C & D! With this equipped, my Power Tool Dragon gains 1000 attack points!" Power Tool Dragon's weapons changed from a blue shovel to a red circular saw and from a regular drill to bigger green drill.

Power Tool Dragon- (ATK: 3300/DEF: 2500).

"Now Power Tool Dragon attack their Machina Soldier!" Leo ordered. The mechanical dragon went towards the green robot and cut it up with its saw and punctured it with its drill until it was no more.

**Kurogasa/Blister: **1600

**Leo/Luna: **1100

"I end my turn." Leo said with confidence.

"For a kid, you're pretty good. Now it's my move." Blister said as he drew his card. "I'll switch Kurogasa's Haos Siege to defense and then I summon my Machina Defender in defense mode as well." Blister said. Haos Siege knelt on one knee and putting the staff in front of him and then a two-legged blue spider-like robot appeared on the field (4) (ATK: 1200/DEF: 1800). "And I'll end my turn from there." Blister finished.

"Watashi no ta-n!" Luna said and drew her card. "I play the spell card, Lightning Vortex! By discarding one card from my hand, I can destroy all monsters on your side of the field." Luna said and discarded a card from her hand to graveyard. A lightning vortex appeared on the ground and it sucked all the monster's in destroying them in the process.

"Nice one sis!" Leo complimented. Luna nodded.

"Now Power Tool Dragon attack their life points and end the duel!" Luna commanded. The mechanical dragon was going for Kurogasa and Blister.

"Sorry, but I activate the trap, Widespread Ruin! It destroys the monster with the highest attack points. In this case, it's Power Tool Dragon." Blister said. A yellow cloud started to form around the mechanical dragon.

"Not when I activate my dragon's special ability. Whenever it's about to be destroyed, the equip card itself gets destroyed instead!" Leo said in response to that as the equip weapons started to disappear.

"That's where you're wrong. I activate my Destruction Jammer trap card. By discarding one card, I can negate a monster effect, spell, or trap and destroy it." Kurogasa said as that happened and the yellow cloud surround Power Tool Dragon and it started to rust until it was destroyed. The twins were disappointed in this.

"I end my turn." Luna said.

"Ore no ta-n! Kurogasa said and drew his card. I summon my Haos Hynoid to the field in attack mode!" The white and yellow werewolf-like creature appeared (3) (ATK: 1300/DEF: 1000). "Next I play Double Summon, which lets me summon another monster this round, so I release my Hynoid to advance summon Haos Laserman!" Hynoid disappeared and what replaced it was a big white and yellow robot with 4 long-range cannons on its shoulders (6) (ATK: 2200/DEF: 2000).

"Now to finish this duel, Laserman, attack their life points directly with Cannon Firestorm!" Kurogasa ordered. Laserman locked in on the twins with its cannons and fired a series of lasers at them. The twins protected themselves as their life points depleted.

**Kurogasa/Blister: **1600

**Leo/Luna: **0

The holograms faded and the crowd was cheering very loudly.

"AND WE HAVE OURSELVES A WINNER! THW WINNERS OF THIS TAG TEAM TOURNAMENT ARE KUROGASA AND BLISTER!" The MC yelled. The crowd cheered even louder. Kurogasa and Blister came up to Leo and Luna.

"Hey guys, that was a great duel. You had us on the ropes there for a while." Kurogasa complimented.

"Yeah. But I'm still sad we lost." Leo said starting to tear up.

"Here we go again…" Luna groaned.

"You'll get better." Blister said.

"Like I said, you gotta keep on practicing and strategizing. With those, you can win any duel." Kurogasa said.

Little did they know, that while the celebration was going on, up in one of the two towers where VIP people can watch. A person with spiky blonde hair, purple eyes, and wearing a white trench coat with grey pants and shoes was watching Kurogasa in particular.

Kurogasa, Blister, Leo, and Luna were walking from the Kaiba Dome for a few minutes.

"Kurogasa." An elderly voice said. The group turned around to see someone coming towards them. Kurogasa was the only one who recognized him. It was none other than Director Goodwin.

"I know you. You're Director Goodwin." Kurogasa said.

"I see that you remember me. That was an excellent tag duel you and your partner made. And I commend the young children for their hard effort as well." Goodwin said.

"Aw, it's nothing, really." Leo said embarrassed.

"Can I talk to you in private Kurogasa?" Goodwin asked.

"Uh, sure." Kurogasa replied and then turned to Blister and the others. "Why don't you guys get going. Goodwin wants to talk with me privately." He said.

"Are you sure?" Luna asked.

"Yeah. I'll be fine. Tell Yusei and the others will ya Blister?"

"Alright, catch ya later." Blister said and walked off. Leo and Luna did the same. And then it was just him and Goodwin.

"Alright Goodwin, what is it you want to talk to me about?"

"Actually, it is what the 'King' wants to talk about. Jack Atlas has the utmost interest if wanting to meet you." Goodwin said. Kurogasa's eyes widened when he heard the name. Could this be the Jack Yusei may be talking about? And as if on cue, The King of all Turbo Duels showed up and walked towards Kurogasa.

"And who might you be? I've never seen you in a match before." Jack said.

"It's Kurogasa Kururugi. I take it that you must be Jack; the one Yusei was talking about." Kurogasa said.

"Oh, so you're friends with that loser, huh? Never mind that. Being the king, I've spent day after day in utter boredom. Nothing but pathetic duelists gathering before me to try and take my throne. But seeing your skills as a duelists piqued my curiosity. Can you provide the King with some entertainment? Can you quench my thirst for a _real _challenge?"

"Although he may have that potential Jack, he is just a mere novice." Goodwin said trying to reason with him.

"Challenging me to a duel huh? Fine, I'll accept your challenge. You just tell me where and when." Goodwin was a little bit surprised to hear him say that.

"Good. It will be a Turbo Duel however. You have a duel runner right?" Jack asked.

"Yeah."

"Then meet me here at the Kaiba Dome at midnight. Just show me what you got and I _might _remember you." And with that Jack left. Goodwin merely sighed.

"Well, now… Please excuse me." Goodwin said as he was starting to leave.

"Goodwin." Kurogasa called to him. The Director turned his head around to look.

"I remember."

(1)- Docking strength with courage to protect world peace! Synchro Summon! Envoy of love and justice, Power Tool Dragon!


	13. Chapter 12: A King's Pride

Time for us to get to the long awaited turbo duel between Kurogasa and Jack. Enjoy it!

Disclaimer: Same as always.

Chapter 12: A King's Pride

"Goodwin." Kurogasa called to him. The Director turned his head around to look.

"I remember."

Goodwin's eyes widened when he heard what Kurogasa just said and then he turned the rest of his body around and walked back to him. "You remember? Your memories have returned?" Goodwin asked.

"Yes. I'm sorry I freaked out on you like that after I hit my head." Kurogasa apologized.

"No, it's not your fault. If anyone should be apologizing, it should be me. I shouldn't have taken the experiment too far. But aside from that, it's good that you remembered."

"Yeah. I want to ask you something though, why are you holding my Satellite friends hostage?" Kurogasa asked a little bit angry.

"I'm trying to gather all the Signers together. And since Yusei has a mark of the Crimson Dragon, I had to find a way to get him to enter the tournament. So, holding his friends who are also your friends from Satellite was a perfect way to get him to enter."

"But they're my friends too!" Kurogasa said.

"I'm sorry that I had to do it. But it was the only way of getting Yusei to enter. I assure you that they won't be harmed, you have my word. But other than that, think of it as a backup plan to awaken the Crimson Dragon."

"Backup plan?" Kurogasa asked confused.

"I'm sure you recall that we got a sample of your blood before we started the experiment."

"Yeah."

"Well, after you went "absent", we used that sample of blood to create 4 clones of you and then engrave the same mark on each one of them. You should know that the mark I gave you is just a mere manmade imitation, but its power is equal to that of the real thing."

"Okay, so what role do the clones and I have?" Kurogasa asked.

"If you duel these 4 clones, with enough intensity and power, the Crimson Dragon might appear and then we could be able to save the world from the evil that appeared 5000 years ago."

"And if that doesn't work?"

"That's where the backup plan comes into play."

"Hmph. Alright, I'll go with your plan. I guess. I mean I still want to repay you for taking care of me when…" Kurogasa just trailed off there and head was down. He was still sad about his parents being killed. Goodwin puts a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sure that if they're here, they would've been proud of you. You're doing this for the greater good."

"…Yeah." Kurogasa replied quietly.

"Well, I must get going. If you feel like you're ready, then come to the mansion. I'll be waiting." Goodwin said and with that he left. Kurogasa soon followed.

Later on that day, Kurogasa was back at Blister's apartment and he was working on his duel runner. Yusei walked in to the garage. "Hey Kurogasa, did you just get back?"

"Yeah. I've been working on the runner ever since I got back here." He replied as he was still typing on the laptop.

"So, what did Goodwin want with you?" Yusei asked.

"Actually, it was Jack that wanted with me."

"What?" Yusei asked with a wide-eyed stare.

"Yeah. He was at Tag Team Tournament today watching and after that he just came up to me and challenged me to a Turbo Duel. Said I piqued his curiosity and that I could possibly entertain him and quench his thirst for a real challenge."

"That's Jack alright. Always acting high and mighty." Yusei sighed. "Did you accept?"

"Of course I did. He wants to meet me at the Kaiba Dome midnight tonight. Look I know you still need to settle your score with Jack and all, but how could I pass this up? And besides, it's most likely that it's going to be unofficial. Are you okay with it?"

"Yes and no. No, because, sorry if I sound selfish, but it should be _me_ dueling Jack. And yes, because I want you to beat the crap out of him for me and hurt his reputation a bit."

"Ookay then, I'll take it as that you're okay with this." Kurogasa shrugged.

Night time has already come and Kurogasa was riding on a highway in New Domino City just doing a little sightseeing. It was really pretty out at night when the lights light up the night sky. "It's nice out here at night." Kurogasa said to himself as he kept on going. He kept on driving until he came upon the Kaiba Dome. When he got to the entrance, Jack was there waiting for him along with his Wheel of Fortune duel runner. It was already midnight. He stopped the runner and then Kurogasa took off his helmet.

"Glad you can make it. I thought you weren't going to show up." Jack said.

"Well I did. So… should we get started or what?" Kurogasa asked.

"Follow me." Jack said as he got on his runner and puts on his helmet and drove off into the stadium with Kurogasa following. A couple minutes later, they arrived inside the stadium and were on the turbo dueling track. Then the lights of the stadium lit up.

"So what do you think? Impressive don't you think? Television just doesn't do it justice. Now imagine it being filled with thousands of fans chanting your name and cheering you on."

"Well, I got the cheering part during the Tag Team Tournament. I'm gonna be in the Fortune Cup and even though I have a criminal mark on me and the people there may reject me, my dueling skills are gonna win the crowd."

"Well let's find out if those dueling skills are capable of doing that." Jack said. Both duelists got on their runners. Both inserted their decks in the deck slots and both started their engines. "Just so you know, this duel will be unofficial. Let's get this started. Fi-rudo Maho! Supido Warudo! Setto-on!" Jack said as he pressed a button on his duel runner.

"**DUEL MODE. AUTOPILOT ON. STAND BY.**

The words 'DUEL MODE' appeared on both screens and the screens then showed the playing field and their speed counters. A purple aura shot out of both duel runners. "First one to turn the corner gets the first turn." Jack said and with that, they sped off. Jack was getting the upper hand, but Kurogasa kicked into overdrive and went really fast and went past him. Jack was a little surprised and impressed. '_Hmph. This might be fun after all.'_ Jack thought. Kurogasa then turned and got the first corner.

"Looks like I'll start this duel off." Kurogasa said. He and Jack then drew their five cards from their decks.

"RIDING DUEL, ACCELERATION!"

**Jack: **4000/**SPC: **0

**Kurogasa: **4000/**SPC: **0

"Ore no sentou! Doro!" Kurogasa said and drew his sixth card. "I summon my Haos Centipoid in defense mode!" The white and yellow centipede with its large red eyes appeared (2) (ATK: 800/DEF: 1000). "Then I'll throw a facedown and end my turn."

"Is that all you got? I can do better. Ore no taa-n!" Jack said and drew his sixth card.

**Jack's SPC: **1

**Kurogasa's SPC: **1

"I special summon my Big piece Golem to the field in attack mode! If you have a monster on the field while I don't, I can special summon it to the field!" A large grey golem appeared (5) (ATK: 2100/DEF: 0). "And now I normal summon my Twin-Sword Marauder in attack mode!" A Rapjut warrior with a pair a Katar daggers that are three-pronged appeared (4) (ATK: 1600/DEF: 1000). "And here's the best part. When it attacks a monster in defense mode, you take piercing damage. Twin-Sword Marauder attack his pathetic insect!" Jack ordered. The Rapjut warrior charged at Centipoid stabbing it in the process. The white centipede screeched before being destroyed into pixels.

**Jack: **4000/**SPC: **1

**Kurogasa: **3400/**SPC: **1

"Oh, I forgot to mention that it can attack once more after I destroy your monster that was in defense mode and since you have no monsters on your field, then you're wide open for a direct attack!" Jack said.

"Too bad he won't attack a second time because my Haos Centipoid's comes into play! If a monster destroys it, then the attacking monster is destroyed as well!" Kurogasa said. The Rapjut warrior started to crack and then the crack got bigger until it was a web of cracks and then light was shining from it and then it was destroyed.

"You may have avoided that, but you still have my Big Piece Golem to worry about! Big Piece Golem, attack directly!" Jack ordered. The big gray golem was coming towards Kurogasa and was extending its big hand to pummel him.

"I activate the trap Defense Draw! When your monster attacks, I get zero damage and I get to draw one from my deck!" The big rock hand hit an invisible shield and it blocked the attack, then Kurogasa drew one card from his deck resetting his hand back at five. "Hmph. I'll place a facedown and end my turn." Jack finished sliding the face down in his duel disk.

"Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa said and drew his card.

**Jack's SPC: **2

**Kurogasa's SPC: **2

"I summon my Haos Siege to the field in attack mode!" A white knight with the Haos staff appeared (4) (ATK: 1900/DEF: 1400). "Next I activate the speed spell, Count Up. I can only activate it if I have 2 or more speed counters. I can send any numbers of cards from my hand to the graveyard and each card I send I gain 2 speed counters. So I will discard two cards." Kurogasa took the two monster cards from his hand and sent it to the graveyard.

**Jack's SPC: **2

**Kurogasa's SPC: **6

"Now I activate another speed spell, Speed Energy! If I have 2 or more speed counters, then I can have one of my monsters gain 200 attack points for each speed counter I have until my turn ends. In this case, it's Haos Siege and since I have 6 speed counters thanks to Count Up, it gains 1200 points. The knight was glowing blue as it was given power.

Haos Siege- (ATK: 3100/DEF: 1400)

"Now Siege attack his Big Piece Golem!" Kurogasa commanded. The white knight thrust his staff at the golem and stabbed it. It looked like nothing happened at first, but then a web of cracks formed and then the big gray golem crumbled into pieces. Jack just shrugged at that, as if it was nothing.

**Jack: **3000/**SPC: **1

**Kurogasa: **3400/**SPC: **6

"Now I'll place a facedown and end my turn." Kurogasa finished and Haos Siege's attack points returned to normal.

"Now let's really kick this duel into overdrive. Ore no taa-n!" Jack said and drew his card.

**Jack's SPC: **2

**Kurogasa's SPC: **7

"Now I activate my speed spell as well, Speed Jammer! If I have 2 or more speed counters, I can take out 6 of yours!" Kurogasa's duel runner was surrounded by electricity even though Kurogasa wasn't being shocked and then it started to slow down.

**Jack's SPC: **2

**Kurogasa's SPC: **1

"And now I activate my trap, Call of the Haunted! It brings a monster from my graveyard back on to the field in attack mode, so say hello to my Big Piece Golem again!" Jack's trap card glowed and Big Piece Golem came out of the card and was back. "That's not all, now I summon the tuner monster Dark Resonator!" A little ghost like fiend with a gold tuning fork and a stick with a blue ball at the end appeared.

"This can't be good." Kurogasa said to himself.

"Now I tune my level 5 Big Piece Golem with my level 3 Dark Resonator!" Jack said as the ghost like fiend hit the gold tuning fork with the stick that had the blue ball at one end. It turned into 3 green rings while Big Piece Golem into 5 spheres of light. The spheres lined up in the tunnel of rings.

"_Ouja no kodou, ima kokoni retsu wo nasu! Tenchi meidou no chikara wo mirugaii! Shinkuro Shoukan! Waga tamashii, Reddo Dēmonzu Doragon!"_ (1)

Jack laughed with pride as a beam of light shot out of the rings and then Jack's ace monster has appeared. It was red and it looked half dragon and half demon like as well (8) (ATK: 3000/DEF: 2000). Jack turned his runner around and was driving backwards. "Feel the power of my Red Dragon Archfiend as it takes out your Haos Siege! Go, Absolute Powerforce!" Jack commanded. Red Dragon Archfiend pilled back its arm and thrust its arm at the white knight while fired enveloped its hand. The knight tried to defend itself, but it was too much and was destroyed easily. Kurogasa winced at this due to its power.

**Jack: **3000/**SPC: **2

**Kurogasa: **2300/**SPC: **0

Kurogasa's runner wobbled for a few seconds, but he was able to get it back in control and then Jack turned his duel runner around to drive forward again.

"I'll end my turn." Jack finished.

'_Okay, so he has one big powerful dragon, so what? He's not the only one with a powerful dragon.'_ Kurogasa thought. "Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa said as he drew a card from his deck.

**Jack's SPC: **3

**Kurogasa's SPC: **1

Kurogasa just smirked. "I activate my facedown, Birthright! This lets me summon a normal monster from my graveyard! So I bring back my Haos Fear Ripper thanks to Count Up when I discarded it and another card to the graveyard!" The trap card glowed and a white fiend with large claws appeared (5) (ATK: 1750/DEF: 1550). "And next I summon the tuner monster, Haos Monarus to the field in attack mode!" the white and yellow butterfly fairy appeared. (3) (ATK: 1000/DEF: 1200). "And when she's summoned successfully, for every card in your hand I gains 500 life points! Since you have two, I gain 1000 and a speed counter." The energy from Jack's cards transferred to the butterfly fairy and then to Kurogasa.

**Jack: **3000/**SPC: **3

**Kurogasa: **3300/**SPC: **2

"Now I tune my level 5 Fear Ripper with my level 3 Monarus!" Kurogasa said and Monarus turned into 3 green rings and Fear Ripper transformed into 5 spheres of light. The spheres then lined up in the tunnel of rings.

"_Shinzou no tamashii ga, piasu no hikari o kensaku to yami o uchikudaku__! Shinkuro Shoukan! Araware o, Haos Omega Leonidas!"_

A beam of light shot out of the tunnel of rings and then the white and yellow dragon showed with its two large horns protruding from its muzzle, one smaller than the other, its two horns just off its eyebrows, and its spikes run along its back and tail, with large claws on its three-fingered hands and two-toed feet ready to fight (8) (ATK: 3000/ DEF: 2500). The two dragons growled at each other.

"Hahaha! Now _this_ is what I call a duel!" Jack laughed enjoying every second of this turbo duel.

"Now I activate Leonidas's special ability! Once per turn, I can choose 1 light monster from my graveyard and my dragon receives half of the original attack points of the chosen monster until the end of the Battle Phase. So I choose my Haos Laserman which was also another card I discarded along with Fear Ripper thanks to Count Up!" A faint image of the robotic machine showed and it disappeared into Leonidas! "Laserman had 2200 attack points, so 1100 gets transferred to Leonidas!" Jack growled at this.

Haos Omega Leonidas- (ATK: 4100/DEF: 2500)

"Leonidas, attack Red Dragon Archfiend with Omega Eraser!" Kurogasa commanded. Leonidas opened up its mouth and fired a large blue laser from its mouth. Red Dragon Archfiend tried to counter with its Absolute Powerforce, but Leonidas was stronger. It pushed the red dragon and then it was destroyed.

**Jack: **1900/**SPC: **2

**Kurogasa: **3300/**SPC: **2

"I end my turn." Kurogasa finished and Leonidas's attack points went back to normal.

"Ore no taa-n!" Jack said as he drew his card.

**Jack's SPC: **3

**Kurogasa's SPC: **3

"I summon my Twin-Shield Defender to the field in defense mode!" Jack said as a man in tribal clothes each having one half of a shield in each appeared (4) (ATK: 700/DEF: 1600). It then puts the halves together.

"Then I'll place a facedown and end my turn." Jack said.

"Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa said and drew his card.

**Jack's SPC: **4

**Kurogasa's SPC: **4

"Leonidas, attack his Twin-Shield Defender with Omega Eraser!" Kurogasa commanded. Leonidas fired its large blue laser from its mouth as it was going for Twin-Shield Defender. "I activate my Negate Attack trap card! It stops your attack and ends the battle phase immediately." A clear vortex appeared in front of Jack's monster and the attack was sucked in.

"I'll place this face down and end my turn." Kurogasa said a little disappointed.

"Ore no taa-n!" Jack said and drew his card.

**Jack's SPC: **5

**Kurogasa's SPC: **5

"I'll place these two facedowns and end my turn." Jack finished.

"Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa said and drew yet another card.

**Jack's SPC: **6

**Kurogasa's SPC: **6

"Let's try this again Leonidas, attack Twin Shield-Defender with Omega Eraser!" Kurogasa ordered. The laser was forming from Leonidas's mouth and was about to fire.

"I activate my trap, Nightmare Archfiends! I release a monster, and then I special summon 3 Nightmare Archfiend Tokens to your side of the field in attack mode! So I release my Twin-Shield Defender." Jack said as his monster disappeared and then the tokens appeared on Kurogasa's side of the field (6) (ATK: 2000/DEF: 2000). Leonidas then fired its laser.

"Why would you want to do that? You'll just lose." Kurogasa said.

"I don't intend to lose anytime soon. That's why I activate this, Torrential Tribute it destroys all monsters on the field when a monster is summoned and since my tokens are special summoned, the trap card can work. Oh, and if a Nightmare Archfiend Token is destroyed, its controller takes 800 points of damage. Since there's 3 you take 2400 points of damage."

"What?" Kurogasa said in shock. The trap card then released a huge wave of water and washed away Leonidas along with the tokens and all of them were destroyed.

**Jack: **1900/**SPC: **6

**Kurogasa: **900/**SPC: **4

"I end my turn." Kurogasa said.

"Ore no taa-n!" Jack said and drew his card. "Now I summon my Mad Archfiend in attack mode!" A skeleton with red hair that has a skeleton body, large claws with a skull in its stomach with yellow pants and black stripes appeared (4) (ATK: 1800/DEF: 0).

"Heh, you put up a good fight and you actually managed to entertain me, I'll give you that, but it's over. Mad Archfiend, end this duel!" Jack ordered. The skull in the archfiends stomach was crunched up into pieces and the bones fragments was shot towards Kurogasa. But Kurogasa just smirked.

"I activate Mirror Force! it deflects your monster's attack and also destroyed in the process!" Kurogasa said a clear mirror got in front of Kurogasa. The bone fragments hit the mirror, and then it was reflected back at Mad Archfiend and was destroyed.

"NO!" Jack cried.

"And since you have no other cards in your hand you might as well end your turn.  
Kurogasa said.

"I end my turn." Jack growled.

"You better hope that the card I draw next turn isn't a monster card. Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa said and drew his card.

**Jack's SPC: **7

**Kurogasa's SPC: **5

Kurogasa looked at it and then smirked. "And it looks like I did draw it. I summon my Haos Falconeer in attack mode!" The white-feathered humanoid falcon appeared (4) (ATK: 1600/DEF: 1400). "And now I play a speed spell. Go! Sonic Buster! If I have 4 or more or speed counters, then half of my monster's attack points get dealt to you, so eat this!" Kurogasa said. The card glowed pink, transferred to Falconeer and then it went to Jack. Jack winced as he took damage.

**Jack: **1100/**SPC: **7

**Kurogasa: **900/**SPC: **5

"You know, if this duel was official, then that would make me the King of Turbo Duels, but sadly, its unofficial." Kurogasa said as he sped past Jack and then he maneuvered his duel runner 90 degrees to his side. "Haos Falconeer, attack Jack's life points directly and end this duel!" Kurogasa commanded. Falconeer flew up and then dived down at Jack while being enveloped in light and the attack connected. Jack winced and screamed as his life points depleted.

**Jack: **0/**SPC: **6

**Kurogasa: **900/**SPC: **5

Jack's screen on his duel runner showed a big red X and then smoke came out of the runner. Jack spun around uncontrollably for a few seconds, but then he was able to stop without having to crash. Kurogasa came to a full stop next to Jack and took off his helmet. Jack took off his helmet too.

"I can't believe it! There's no way that you've defeated me!" Jack shouted in anger. "You're gonna regret winning against me!" He growled.

"The only thing _I'm _gonna regret is the duel being unofficial. You're lucky that this duel was and that there isn't an audience watching this!" Kurogasa shot back. Jack glared at him for a while.

"Official or not, I still lost!" Jack yelled.

"I thought you were going to be a good sport about it once you lose the duel, but it turns out you weren't. If you still wanna whine about it, then be my guest! Other than that, I'm outta here!" Kurogasa said and then he puts on his helmet and drove out of the arena leaving Jack to his thoughts.

(1)- "The ruler's heartbeats will now file through here! Take witness to its creation-shaking power! Synchro Summon! My very soul, Red Demon's Dragon!"


	14. Chapter 13: Pyrus vs Haos

Hey there guys! Now we're going to get to the part where the character fights the 4 clones of him. Now it's taken me a while to decide on this, but I've decided that my OC should battle the 4 clones one at a time, so each duel with one of the clones would be in one chapter. Since my OC is fighting clones of himself, the clones' decks will be the same only of a different attribute with monsters changed around a bit. That's right; the duels will be composed of Haos Bakugan going against Pyrus, Aquos, Ventus, and Subterra Bakugan! I'll make up the spell and trap cards of the clones as I go. So enjoy this duel between Pyrus and Haos!

Disclaimer: Same as last time.

Chapter 13: Pyrus vs. Haos

Kurogasa rode through the streets of New Domino City on his duel runner throughout the night. He drove for a couple of minutes until he arrived at Goodwin's mansion. He parked his duel runner next to the entrance of the mansion and knocked on the door. He waited for a couple of minutes until a short, effeminate man who wears red lipstick, has light purple hair, an opulent red costume with a black collar and gold trim appeared.

"Ah, you must be Mr. Kurogasa Kururugi. My name is Lazar, the Vice Director of Sector Security. Follow me. Director Goodwin is expecting you." Lazar said.

Kurogasa followed Lazar inside the mansion. _'It's been a while since I was here. Brings back a lot of memories.'_ Kurogasa thought remembering everything when he was here as a child. They continued to walk until they got to a secret stairwell that went below the mansion. Then they walked to a stone-walled hallway with torches lined up on the wall lighting their way. Then they come across a door which opened in two. The two of them went in and when the door closed behind them. The floor lit up and the huge mark of the Crimson Dragon appeared. The tail, wings, claws, and head were there and in the middle of that, was a tall Incan-like temple. Kurogasa's fake birthmark glowed as well.

"After you." Lazar said. Kurogasa walked to the temple and in front of it was Goodwin along with the 4 clones behind him.

"Ah, Kurogasa, it is good of you to come here." Goodwin greeted.

"Yes. I'm ready to awaken the Crimson Dragon." Kurogasa said.

"Indeed you are. How did your duel with Jack went?" Goodwin asked curiously.

"Well, I won and Jack got pissed. Jack is lucky that the duel was unofficial."

"I see. Well, let's get down to business. Now in order for the Crimson Dragon to appear, you have to duel them one clone at a time. You will first go against Alpha, then Beta, Gamma, and finally Delta. Your life points will replenish after each duel. Are you ready?"

"Yes."

"Very well. Alpha, come forward." Goodwin said as the first clone came up to him.

"Let the duels commence." Goodwin said as he walked to the side to watch with Lazar. Kurogasa and Alpha both activated their duel disks and both drew their first five cards.

"DUEL!"

**Kurogasa:** 4000

**Alpha:** 4000

"Ore no sentou!" Alpha said as he drew his sixth card. "I summon my Pyrus Falconeer in defense mode!" Alpha said as a red feathered humanoid falcon appeared (4) (ATK: 1600/DEF: 1400). The humanoid falcon then knelt on one knee and crossed its arms. "Then I'll place one facedown and end my turn."

"Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa said as he drew his sixth card and then he looked at his hand. 'Geez! This is worst hand ever! I can't use any of these yet. Well, at least the card I drew is alright, so I guess it's better than nothing.' Kurogasa thought to himself. "I summon Haos Siege to the field in attack mode!" A white knight with his staff appeared. (4) (ATK: 1900/DEF: 1400). "Siege, attack his Pyrus Falconeer now!" Kurogasa ordered.

The knight charged at the red-feathered humanoid falcon with his staff ready to stab.

"I activate my trap card! Firewall! It increased my monster's defense points by 500 whenever a fire-attribute is attacked until the end of the turn." Alpha said as a wall appeared in front of Falconeer and it blocked the knight's attack. The knight then backed off.

Pyrus Falconeer- (ATK: 1600/DEF: 1900)

"I'll end my turn with a facedown." Kurogasa said.

"Ore no ta-n!" Alpha said and the clone drew a card. "Now I'll activate the field spell Pyrus Reactor!" Alpha said as he placed the card in the field zone and then the ground began to shake and lava was beneath their feet and a ring of fire surrounded them. "And for every fire type attribute monster I summon, it gains 500 attack power boost. And now I summon the tuner monster, Pyrus El Condor in attack mode!" A red and yellow Aztec shaman with a large mask appeared (3) (ATK: 1300/DEF: 1100).

"And since all our decks are identical, you should already know what El Condor does. But first, my Pyrus Reactor kicks in and gives El Condor a power boost.

Pyrus El Condor- (ATK: 1800/DEF: 1100)

"Now I'll change my Pyrus Falconeer's level to 5!" Alpha said as energy from the shaman creature was transferred to Falconeer.

Pyrus Falconeer's level: 5

"And I'll tune my level 5 Falconeer with my level 3 El Condor!" Alpha added.

"Geez, a Synchro summoning already?" Kurogasa complained.

El Condor turned into three green rings and Falconeer turning into 5 balls of light. The balls of light lined up in the tunnel of rings.

_"__Reijingu no honoo ga okufukaku kara moeru tamashii ni hi o tsukeru__! Shinkuro Shoukan! Akarui yakeato, Pyrus Neo Dragonoid!"_(1)

A beam of light shot out of the tunnels of rings and then a red dragon with a long body, garments on its legs, markings that point down, a long yellow horn on its head, gem that is green and diamond-shaped, a pair of wings which had extra horns in it and on the back of its head appeared (8) (ATK: 3000/DEF: 2500).

"That's not good..." Kurogasa said.

"First, my Neo Dragonoid gets a power boost thanks to Pyrus Reactor." Alpha said as the dragon was surging with energy.

Pyrus Neo Dragonoid- (ATK: 3500/DEF: 2500)

"Then he also gets an extra 500 attack points for every fire attribute monster in the grave. I have 2 monsters so he gains another 1000 points!"

Pyrus Neo Dragonoid- (ATK: 4500/DEF: 2500)

And now Neo Dragonoid attack Haos Siege with Burning Tornado!" Alpha ordered. The dragon flew up in the air, and spiraled towards the white knight while enveloped in fire forming a spiral like tornado attack and then it scorched the knight destroying it into tiny pixels.

**Kurogasa:** 1400

**Alpha:** 4000

"I'll end my turn." Alpha finished.

"Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa said and drew a card from a card. He smiled at what he got. "Yes! Just the card I'm looking for! I summon the tuner monster Haos Monarus!" A white and yellow butterfly-fairy like creature appeared (3) (ATK: 1000/DEF: 1200). "And when she's summoned successfully, for every card in your hand I gain 500 life points. You have three, so I gain 1500 points!" Light glowed from Alpha's cards as it went to Monarus and then to Kurogasa.

**Kurogasa:** 2900

**Alpha:** 4000

"Now I play a spell card known as Rapid Haos! If I have a light attribute monster on my field I can special summon another one from my hand or deck. And I choose to special summon my Haos Fear Ripper from my deck in attack mode!" Kurogasa said as he took a card from his deck and puts it on the duel disk. The white and yellow fiend with large claws appeared (5) (ATK: 1750/DEF: 1550).

"Now I play my field spell, Haos Reactor!" Kurogasa said as he placed the card in the field zone and then the lava and fire was replaced by light and bubbles of light in different colors rose from the ground.

"Like your Pyrus Reactor, my monsters gain a 500 attack point power boost only this time it's whenever I summon a light monster. Since your Pyrus Reactor is no more, Neo Dragonoid loses 500 attack points."

Pyrus Neo Dragonoid- (ATK: 4000/DEF: 2500)

"And now I tune my level 5 Fear Ripper with my Level 3 Monarus!" Kurogasa said and with that Monarus turned into 3 green rings and Fear Ripper into 5 balls of light. The balls of light then lined up in the tunnel of rings.

_"__Shinzou no tamashii ga, piasu no hikari o kensaku to yami o uchikudaku__! Shinkuro Shoukan! Araware o, Haos Omega Leonidas!"_ A beam of light shot out of the rings and then Kurogasa's ace dragon appeared (8) (ATK: 3000/DEF: 2500).

"Now Leonidas will get his 500 attack boost thanks to Haos Reactor!"

Haos Omega Leonidas- (ATK: 3500/DEF: 2500)

"Next I play my Attribute Change spell card! I can change any 1monster's attribute of my choice and I choose your Neo Dragonoid to be dark, so now it would be Darkus Neo Dragonoid. The dragon's color changed from red and yellow to black and purple.

"Why do you want to do that?" Alpha asked.

"So I can do this, I play another spell! Darkus and Haos Correlation! It can only work if there's a light and dark attribute monster on the field. Your dragon loses 1000 of its attack points while my dragon gains it!" Kurogasa explained as dark energy was transferred from Dragonoid, converting to light energy and then giving it to Leonidas.

Haos Omega Leonidas- (ATK: 4500/DEF: 2500

Darkus Neo Dragonoid- (ATK: 3000/DEF: 2500)

"But I'm not done there! Now I activate Leonidas's special ability! Once per turn, my dragon gains half the attack points of 1 monster from my graveyard until the end of the turn! And I chose my Haos Siege!" A faint image of Siege went into Leonidas and the white and yellow dragon was feeling the power surging from within.

Haos Omega Leonidas- (ATK: 5450/DEF: 2500)

"And finally, I'll reveal my facedown! Monster Reborn! I can any monster from either graveyard, so I choose my Haos Fear Ripper!" The fiend with large claws was back on the field.

"And since he was summoned back, he gains 500 attack points from Haos Reactor!"

Haos Fear Ripper- (ATK: 2250/DEF: 1550).

"Alright Leonidas, attack Neo Dragonoid with Omega Eraser!" Kurogasa commanded. Leonidas got on all fours and opened up its mouth. A huge blue ball of energy was forming in it and then a huge laser was fired. Neo Dragonoid tried to counter with its flames that it shot out of its mouth, but Leonidas was stronger and the laser hit the Neo Dragonoid and was shattered to nothing.

**Kurogasa:** 2900

**Alpha:** 1550

"Now finish it off Fear Ripper!" Kurogasa said next. The fiend wasted no time as it went up in the air and came down with its claws ready to strike and then slashed away at Alpha. His life points then depleted.

**Kurogasa:** 2900

**Alpha:** 0

The holograms faded and the duel disks deactivated. Alpha just suddenly fell to the ground unconscious while Kurogasa winced from a stinging pain from his fake birthmark and he was holding on to his right arm.

"The first duel is now complete." Goodwin said.

"Yeah… I expected the duel to be longer, but I guess this works too." Kurogasa said a little disappointed.

"Do not worry. Think of that as a warm-up to get you ready for the next duels. Now then, are you ready to face your next opponent?" Goodwin asked.

"Yes."

(1)- Raging flames ignite the burning soul from deep within! Synchro summon! Burn bright, Pyrus Neo Dragonoid!

Yeah, I know that duel was short, but hey, it works out for me. As I said before, I will make up the spells and traps of the clones as I go on with these duels, so… review! ^_^


	15. Chapter 14: Haos vs Aquos

Hey guys! Sorry about the long wait! I just finished another chapter on another story. Anyways, let's get to the second battle and this duel feature light going up against water!

Disclaimer: You should know by now.

Chapter 14: Haos vs. Aquos

"Beta, come forward." Rex ordered. The second clone did as he was told.

"Let the second duel commence." Rex said before moving to the side. Kurogasa and Beta activated their disks and drew their five cards.

"DUEL!"

**Beta: **4000

**Kurogasa: **4000

"Ore no sentou! Doro!" Kurogasa said drawing his sixth card from his deck and then looked at his hand. '_Aw geez, not another bad hand again. Well, at least I have two monsters in my hand, so I guess it's not all that bad.'_ He thought to himself. "I'll start off by summoning my Haos Hynoid to the field in attack mode!" A white and yellow colored werewolf-like creature appeared in front of Kurogasa (4) (ATK: 1300/DEF: 1000). "Then I'll place a facedown and end my turn." He finished placing a reverse card down.

"Ore no ta-n!" Beta said and drew his sixth card. "I summon Aquos Siege to the field in attack mode!" A blue knight in armor with a blue cape holding a long-pointed lance appeared (4) (ATK: 1900/DEF: 1400).

"Not so fast, I activate my trap! Bottomless Trap Hole! If you summon a monster with 1500 attack or more, that monster is destroyed and removed from play." Kurogasa said. A hole appeared below the ground and the blue fell in. The hole was then closed up.

"I'll place a facedown and end my turn." Beta finished.

"Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa said as he drew his next card. "I summon my Haos Robattalion in attack mode!" Beta said as he placed the card on the disk. Then a blue robot appeared (2) (ATK: 900/DEF: 900). "And on the turn that's summoned, its attack points double!" Beta said as power surged within the robot.

Aquos Robattalion- (ATK: 1800/DEF: 900)

"Now I'll activate my Lightwave Tuning spell card. With this I choose a level 4 light monster on my side of the field and it is then treated as a tuner." Kurogasa explained. Hynoid was glowing with green energy giving him the powers of a tuner. "Now I tune level 2 Robattalion with my level 4 Hynoid!" Hynoid turned into four green rings and Robattalion turned into 2 stars. The 2 stars lined up in the tunnel of rings.

"_Kurayami no naka kara sekai o mamoru tame ni, hikari ga purotekutā to kyuuseishu ni naru you! Shinkuro Shokan! Ideyo, Haos Aranaut!" _

A beam of light shot out of the rings and enveloped them only then to reveal the ninja in white armor (6) (ATK: 2000/DEF: 2000).

"Now Aranaut, attack his life points directly with Mirage Fist!" Kurogasa commanded. The white armored ninja ran to Beta and was about to hit him with its fists glowing with light energy.

"I activate the trap, Flash Freeze!" The trap flipped up revealing a picture of Aquos Elico about to be attacked while a shadowy creature about to attack was frozen. The trap shined brightly and when the light faded, Aranaut was frozen in ice.

"What the- What happened?" Kurogasa asked shocked.

"Flash Freeze stops your attack and cuts Aranaut attack strength by half." Beta explained.

Haos Aranaut- (ATK: 1000/DEF: 2000.)

"Grr… I end my turn." Kurogasa growled.

"Ore no ta-n!" Beta said and drew his card. "Now I summon Aquos Preyas in attack mode!" A blue humanoid chameleon-like creature appeared (4) (ATK: 1400/DEF: 1200). "And get this, his main attribute is water, but he is also treated as fire, wind, earth, light, and dark. In other words, once per turn during my Main Phase, I can change his attribute. So now, Preyas, change into Darkus Preyas! The humanoid chameleon then changed color and now it was purple and black. "Now I play a _spell_ card known as Attribute Change and I'll change Aranaut's attribute to water." Beta said as the white armored ninja turned blue. "Now I'll activate another spell known as Darkus and Aquos Correlation! It only works if there's a water and dark attribute monster on the field. The dark attribute monster gains 1000 attack points while the water loses a thousand. The energies from Aranaut were transferred to Preyas.

Darkus Preyas- (ATK: 2400/DEF: 1200)

Aquos Aranaut- (ATK: 0/DEF: 2000)

"Zero attack points?" Kurogasa asked incredulously.

"That's right! Meaning I can give big damage to you! Darkus Preyas attack with Whirl Kick!" Beta ordered. Preyas jumped up and went in a whirl, spinning in the air until he broke the ice and kicked Aranaut. Aranaut flew back before being destroyed into pixels.

**Beta: **4000

**Kurogasa: **1600

"I'll place the rest of my hand facedown and end my turn." Beta said putting two reverse cards face down on the field.

"Great. Preyas's attack points are way stronger, so I have to make a big comeback." Kurogasa muttered to himself. "Ore no ta-n!" He said as he drew his next card. "Sweet! I summon my tuner monster, Haos Monarus to the field in attack mode!" The white and yellow butterfly-like fairy appeared (3) (ATK: 1000/DEF: 1200). "Next I activate a spell card from my hand, Rapid Haos! As long as there's a light monster on my side of the field, I can special summon another light monster from my hand or deck. And I choose to summon my Haos Tentaclar from my deck in my attack mode!" The giant eyeball with tentacles appeared (3) (ATK: 1350/DEF: 1550). "And now I tune my level 3 Tentaclar with my Level 3 Monarus!" Kurogasa said as the events of a synchro summoning started to happen again.

"_Ten no houshakou ha, kurayami no ue ni kagayaki, subete no eien no tame ni sore o fusshoku suru! Shinkuro Shoukan! Migaki ni, Haos Ancient Nemus!"_

A beam of light shot out of the 3 green rings enveloping it and then the male angelic warrior appeared with his staff ready to go (6) (ATK: 2400/DEF: 2000).

"Next, I activate his special ability! Once per turn, I can bring back a monster from my graveyard. So I bring back my Haos Tentaclar back to the field in attack mode!" The giant eyeball with tentacles came back. "Now I think it's time you gave back those 1000 points, because I activate the spell Darkus and Haos Correlation! It can only work if there's a light and dark monster on the field and I think you know what happens right now. Energy was then being transferred from Preyas to Nemus.

Haos Ancient Nemus- (ATK: 3400/DEF: 2000)

Darkus Preyas- (ATK: 1400/DEF: 1200)

"It went back to its base attack power!" Beta exclaimed.

"That's exactly what it means! Now Nemus, attack his Preyas with Sparkling Arrow!" Kurogasa commanded. Nemus swung his staff and sent a wave of light energy at Preyas that was fast as shooting an arrow from a bow. It hit Preyas and soon was reduced to pixels.

**Beta: **2000

**Kurogasa:** 1600

"Now Tentaclar, attack his life points directly!" Kurogasa ordered. Tentaclar sent one of its tentacles and was about to slap him.

"I don't think so! I activate my trap Defense Draw! With this, I take zero damage plus I get to draw a card." Beta said as a force field was formed around Beta and the tentacle collided with it. After that, Beta drew a card from his deck.

"I'll end my turn with a facedown." Kurogasa said putting a reverse card on the field.

"Ore no ta-n!" Beta said and drew his card. "Now I'll activate my facedown, Return from the Different Dimension! All I have to do is pay half my life points and I can bring back a monster that was removed from play! So I bring back my Aquos Siege!" A portal opened up and Aquos Siege was back on the field.

**Beta: **1000

**Kurogasa: **1600

"Now I play the spell card, Tsunami Wave! If I have a water attribute monster on the field, then that means all monsters on your side of the field are destroyed!" Beta said. A big tsunami wave appeared from out of nowhere on Beta's side of the field and then it crashed on Nemus and Tentaclar washing them away and then both monsters were destroyed into pixels.

"Oh great, this can't be good." Kurogasa said to himself.

"And it's gonna get worse, because I summon the tuner monster, Aquos El Condor!" Beta said and then a blue-colored shaman like creature with the large Aztec mask appeared (3) (ATK: 1300/DEF: 1100). "And I'm pretty sure you know what the ability of this card is, but I'm not gonna do that, because now I tune my level 4 Siege with level 3 El Condor!" Beta said as El Condor turned into three green rings and Siege into 4 stars. The stars then lined up in the tunnel of rings.

"_Mizu no kurai okusoko kara, umi no ō wa, zen sekai o afure saserudeshou! Shōgen kare no hontō no chikara! Shinkuro Shokan! Araware o, Aquos Frosch!"_

A beam of light shot out of the rings and then a gigantic blue frog-like creature with huge legs for fast maneuverability and a long whipping tongue (7) (ATK: 2300/DEF: 2200).

"Now to finish you off for good! Aquos Frosch, end this duel with Aquos Cyclone!" Beta commanded. The frog then opened up its mouth and shot a spiral of water at Kurogasa.

"Sorry, but I activate my Negate Attack trap card! It stops your attack and ends the battle phase!" Kurogasa said as a clear vortex opened up and sucked all the water in.

"I end my turn." Beta said.

"Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa said and drew his card. "Awesome, just what I need. I play the spell card, Pot of Greed. This lets me draw 2 cards." Kurogasa then drew his two cards. '_Ugh… this is really not good. I really must be having a bad a day right now. Well, at least this will do for now.'_ "I summon my Haos El Condor in defense mode!" Kurogasa said as he summoned the light version of the shaman creature and then it crossed its arms and knelt on one knee (3) (ATK: 1300/DEF: 1100). "And his ability activates when he's successfully summoned, I can change a monster's level and I choose my Haos El Condor's level to be level 2.

Haos El Condor's level: 2

"And I'll end my turn with a facedown." Kurogasa said.

"Ore no ta-n!" Beta said and drew a card. I'll place this facedown and end my turn." Beta finished.

"Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa said and drew another card. "I'll end my turn as well with a facedown." Kurogasa said placing a reverse card on the field.

"Is this duel _ever_ going to end?" Lazar asked getting a little bit annoyed and bored.

"Be patient Lazar. This only the second duel and he still has quite a long way to go by going through the other two clones. But don't worry. It will all be over soon and it will be worth the wait." Goodwin said calmly.

"Whatever you say." Lazar shrugged as the two continued to watch the duel.

"Ore no ta-n!" Beta said and drew a card. "Now Aquos Frosch, attack his El Condor with Aquos Cyclone!" Beta commanded. The gigantic then launched a vortex of water from its mouth and went towards the shaman.

"Not so fast! Because I activate my Mirror Force trap card! It reflects your monster's attack back at you and gets destroyed!" Kurogasa said as a clear force field appeared in front of the shaman and then the water was shot back at Frosch.

"Nice try, but it's not gonna work because I activate my Dive Mirage trap card!" Beta said revealing the trap card showing a picture of Preyas diving in the water to avoid an attack. "If a water attribute monster is about to be destroyed, this card negates it." Beta explained as water formed below the field and Frosch dived underwater escaping out of harm's way.

"I'll end my turn." Kurogasa said.

"Ore no ta-n!" Beta said and drew a card from his deck. "Now I play _my _Pot of Greed! This lets me draw two cards from my deck." Beta said as drew two cards. "Now I play a spell known as Double Summon! This lets me summon twice this round. So now I summon my Aquos Falconeer to the field first!" Beta said and then a blue-feathered humanoid falcon appeared (4) (ATK: 1600/DEF: 1400)

"Then I'll summon my Aquos Ravenoid to the field as well!" Beta said next as a blue-feathered humanoid raven appeared as well. (4) (ATK: 1500/DEF: 1200).

"Okay, this is definitely not good." Kurogasa muttered to himself.

"With three monsters on the field, you're finished. Now Aquos Falconeer, attack his Haos El Condor now!" Beta ordered. Falconeer flew up in the air and was diving towards El Condor while being enveloped in water.

"Hate to break to ya, but you'll have to go through my Totem Pole trap card, if you want to get to me!" Kurogasa said activating the trap and a totem pole appeared and the attack was redirected towards the top part of the totem pole and destroyed the first section.

"Alright then, I'll just attack with my Ravenoid and Frosch to destroy that Totem Pole!" Beta said as Ravenoid and Frosch destroyed the remaining two sections of the totem pole.

"And with that, I'll end my turn." Beta said.

"Hmm… it seems that this duel is about done since Beta has field advantage over Kurogasa." Lazar said.

"Don't be so sure. I'm sure that there is something in his deck that will turn this situation into Kurogasa's favor. All he has to do is draw it. And besides, Kurogasa has to win all four duels in order for this to work." Goodwin said.

'_Alright. I got my Haos El Condor on the field and my second clone has Falconeer, Ravenoid, and Frosch on his. I just got to draw the right card to turn this situation around. And I got to draw it now. Or else, the Crimson Dragon won't be able to awaken.'_ Kurogasa thought as he puts his hand on his deck.

"It all comes to down to this. It's now or never. Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa said and drew his card. He looked at it and then smirked.

"Game over." Kurogasa said.

"Huh?" Beta said all confused.

"I said game over. I just drew the card I need to win this duel. I play Monster Reborn to bring back my Haos Ancient Nemus to the field!" Kurogasa said as he played the card and the male angelic warrior appeared back on the field. "And now I'll tune my level 6 Ancient Nemus and my now, level 2 El Condor!" He said next as El Condor jumped up from its defense position and turned into two green rings and Nemus turned into 6 stars. The stars then lined up in the tunnel of rings.

"_Shinzou no tamashii ga, piasu no hikari o kensaku to yami o uchikudaku! Shinkuro Shokan! Araware o, Haos Omega Leonidas!"_

A beam of light shot out of the rings and then Kurogasa's ace dragon appeared (8) (ATK: 3000/DEF: 2500).

"And now I'll end this duel right now! Leonidas, attack his Falconeer and end it with Omega Eraser!" Kurogasa yelled. The white dragon got on all fours, opened up its mouth, and released a large blue beam from its mouth and it incinerated Falconeer into pixels within seconds. Beta yelled as his life points were depleted.

**Beta:** 0

**Kurogasa: **1600

The holograms faded and the duel disks deactivated. Beta then suddenly fell to the ground unconscious and Kurogasa winced from the stinging pain from his fake birthmark and he was holding on to his right arm tighter and the mark is glowing brighter. And the stinging pain was stronger than the last. It was painful for him to get him down on one knee.

"The second duel is now complete. I can see that your birthmark is affecting you. Are you alright?" Goodwin asked.

"I'm okay." Kurogasa said standing up.

"Are you sure you want to continue?"

"Yeah. Send in the next clone." Kurogasa said.

(1)- From the water's dark depths, the king of the sea will flood the entire world! Bear witness his true power! Synchro Summon! Appear, Aquos Frosch!


	16. Chapter 15: Ventus vs Haos

Sorry about not updating in a while. But now it's time for us to get to the third battle of the clones with Kurogasa. It's Haos going up against Ventus! And let me tell you, it's going to be a very short duel.

Disclaimer: Same thing.

Chapter 15: Ventus vs. Haos

"Send in the next clone." Kurogasa said panting a little bit.

"Very well. Gamma, come forward." Goodwin ordered. The third clone did as he was told. "Now let the third duel commence!" He said. Gamma and Kurogasa then both activated their duel disks and drew their five cards.

"DUEL!"

**Kurogasa:** 4000

**Gamma:** 4000

"Ore no sentou!" Gamma said and drew his sixth card. "I summon my Ventus Saurus in attack mode!" Gamma said and then a green-colored humanoid triceratops appeared (4) (ATK: 1700/DEF: 1500). "Then I'll place a facedown and end my turn.

"Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa said and drew his sixth card as well and then looked at his hand_. 'Okay, this hand is a lot better than the last two duels. I can live with this one.'_ Kurogasa thought. "Alright, here goes! First, I play the field spell, Haos Reactor! Every time I summon a light monster, that monster gets a 500 power boost." Kurogasa said as light came out of the ground and transparent spheres of light with different colors rose from the ground as well. "Next, I activate the spell card Double Summon which lets me summon twice this turn, so now I summon my Haos Siege and Haos Manion in attack mode! The white knight with cape and staff appeared first (4) (ATK: 1900/DEF: 1400) and then the white and yellow sphinx-like creature appeared as well (3) (ATK: 1350/DEF: 1000).

"And thanks to Haos Reactor, they get a 500 power boost." Kurogasa reminded him as the ground glowed brighter and the two monsters were surging with power.

Haos Siege- (ATK: 2400/DEF: 1400)

Haos Manion- (ATK: 1850/DEF: 1000)

"Now Haos Siege, attack his Ventus Saurus!" Kurogasa ordered. The knight charged at the dinosaur-like creature and was about to stab at it.

"Not so fast, I activate the trap, Blow Away!" Gamma said revealing the trap card showing a picture of a green tornado blowing away Preyas sending him sky high. "If a wind attribute monster is attacked, then that attack is negated, plus the monster that attacked goes back in your hand!"

A huge green tornado came out of the trap card and went towards the knight that was trying to block it, but to no avail. Siege was blown away, turned into yellow energy and went back into the card. Kurogasa then took the card off his disk.

"You still have to go through my Manion! Haos Manion, attack his Ventus Saurus now!" Kurogasa commanded. The sphinx-like creature flew up in the air, dove towards its target and head butt it. Saurus flew back a few feet before being turned into shattered pixels.

**Kurogasa:** 4000

**Gamma:** 3850

"I'll end my turn with these two facedowns." Kurogasa then set his reverse cards down.

"Ore no ta-n!" Gamma said and drew a card. "I play my Double Summon spell card, which lets me summon twice this turn! So now I summon my Ventus El Condor and Hynoid!" A green colored shaman-like creature with the large Aztec mask appeared (3) (ATK: 1300/DEF: 1100) followed a green-colored werewolf, hyena-like creature (4) (ATK: 1300/DEF: 1000). "Next, I activate El Condor's ability! If he's summoned successfully, I can change a monster's level on my side of the field. And I chose my Ventus Hynoid to be level 5!" Energy from the shaman transferred to the hyena-like creature.

Ventus Hynoid's Level: 5

"Now I tune my level 5 Hynoid with my level 3 El Condor!" The shaman creature turned into 3 green rings and Hynoid into 5 stars. The stars lined up in the tunnel of rings.

_"Shinohai no naka kara noboruto kika sete kaze ga eien no inochi e to michibiite kureru! Shinkuro Shoukan! Seikatsu ni zehi! Storm Skyress!" _(1)

A beam of light shot out of the rings and a green phoenix with a large wingspan and long tail feathers appeared (8) (ATK: 2600/DEF: 2400). "Now I activate Storm Skyress's ability, once per turn, I can bring back monsters that have been used as synchro material to synchro summon Skyress, so I bring back Ventus El Condor and Hynoid to the field!" Gamma said as Skyress screeched loud and the two monsters mentioned were back on the field. Now I'll tune those monsters again!"

"Another synchro summon?" Kurogasa asked incredulously as El Condor and Hynoid did the same thing only this time, Hynoid turned into 4 stars instead of 5 because El Condor's effect has already been used.

_"Shōri no kaze ga atsumari arashi ga haiboku!-Fū wa eikō to shōri ni michi o kirihirakute miyou! Shinkuro Shoukan! Araware o, Ventus Oberus!" _(2)

A beam of light shot out of the tunnel of rings and then a green creature with a large beak-shaped head with multiple butterfly wings showed (7) (ATK: 2550/DEF: 2350).

"And like your Lars Lion, when it's synchro summoned successfully, my wind monsters gain 500 attack points.

Ventus Storm Skyress: (ATK: 3100/DEF: 2400)

Ventus Oberus: (ATK: 3050/DEF: 2350)

"Alright Oberus, attack his Haos Manion with Blast Storm!" Gamma ordered. Oberus created a huge wall of wind that surrounded the field and Manion caught in it. Every time it hits a wall of wind, the wind would explode. It was being bombarded until it shattered into pixels.

**Kurogasa:** 2800

**Gamma:** 3850

"Storm Skyress, it's your turn! Finish this duel with Destruction Meteor Storm!" Gamma yelled. The green phoenix flew up in the air and then dove towards Kurogasa while green flames enveloped it and small green fireballs going along as well.

"Not so fast, I play my Defense Draw trap card! Any damage I take becomes zero and I get to draw one card." Kurogasa said. An invisible shield protected Kurogasa making the phoenix stop its attack. Then Kurogasa drew a card. The phoenix then flew back to Gamma.

"Lucky..." Gamma muttered. "I'll end my turn."

"Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa said as he drew his next card. "I play Pot of Greed which lets me draw two cards!" Kurogasa said and drew two more. "I summon back Haos Siege to the field in attack mode!" The white knight returned to the field with his staff ready. "And since my Haos Siege is summoned, my Haos Reactor kicks in and gives it another 500 attack bonus."

Haos Siege- (ATK: 2400/DEF: 1400)

"Next I play my Attribute Change spell card! It lets me change a monster's attribute. And I choose Storm Skyress attribute to be dark!" The phoenix's color changed from green to black and purple feathers. "And now I play my Darkus and Haos Correlation spell card. It can only if there is a light and dark attribute monster on the field! It subtracts 1000 attack points from the dark attribute monster and then adds it to the light attribute monster!" Dark energy transferred to Siege converting the dark energy into light energy.

Haos Siege- (ATK: 3400/DEF: 1400)

Ventus Storm Skyress: (ATK: 2100/DEF: 2400)

"Now Siege, attack his Darkus Storm Skyress!" Kurogasa ordered. The white knight then charged at the phoenix and stabbed it. The phoenix let out a deafening screech before being destroyed into pixels.

**Kurogasa:** 2800

**Gamma:** 2550

"I end my turn." Kurogasa finished.

"You'll pay for that! Ore no ta-n!" Gamma said and drew his card. "Now I'll activate Storm Skyress's special ability! During my Standby Phase, I can sacrifice one monster on the field and Skyress returns back from the graveyard! So I sacrifice my Ventus Oberus to bring back Skyress!" Gamma said as he discarded Oberus's card to the graveyard. Oberus suddenly was in green flames. It disintegrated and the green flames took form and Skyress was back on the field.

"No way!" Kurogasa exclaimed.

"Yes way. Plus, Skyress gains half of the sacrificed monster's attack points!" Skyress glowed in green energy as it was powering up.

Ventus Storm Skyress: (ATK: 3875/DEF: 2400)

"And now I'll summon my Ventus Siege in attack mode!" Gamma said. A green knight in armor with a green cape and poleax appeared (4) (ATK: 1900/DEF: 1400).

"Now Storm Skyress, attack his Haos Siege with Destruction Meteor Storm!" Gamma ordered. The green phoenix flew up on the air and then dove towards Kurogasa while green flames enveloped it and small green fireballs going along as well. It made a direct hit and the white knight was burned in the green flames and turned into pixels.

**Kurogasa:** 2325

**Gamma:** 2550

"Ventus Siege, attack his life points directly!" Gamma said next. The green knight charged towards and slashed at him with his poleax. Kurogasa grunted as it happened and went down on one knee.

**Kurogasa:** 475

**Gamma:** 2550

"I'll end my turn from there." Gamma finished. Kurogasa stood back up. '_I need to finish this fast or I'm done for.' _Kurogasa thought. "Ore… no ta-n!" Kurogasa said and drew his next card. '_Perfect! If I play these cards right, I can win for sure!' "_Alright now, I summon my tuner monster, Haos El Condor to the field in attack mode!" The white shaman with the large Aztec mask appeared (ATK: 1300/DEF: 1100) "And when it's successfully summoned, I can change a monster's level on my side of the field. And I'll change Haos El Condor's level to 1. And don't forget my Haos Reactor in play. It gains 500 attack points since it was summoned.

Haos El Condor- (ATK: 1800/DEF: 1100)

Haos El Condor's level: 1

"Why do that?" Gamma asked.

"So I can activate this! Revealing the facedown, Synchro Material!" Kurogasa said. "During this turn, I can used any monster as synchro material for a Synchro Summon!" (AN: I'm using the English anime version of Synchro Material.)

"What?"

"And it's time I used this synchro monster too. I haven't used this one yet. So now, I tune your level 4 Ventus Siege with my level 1 Haos El Condor!" Kurogasa said as El Condor turned into a green ring and Ventus Siege turned into 4 stars. The stars then lined up in the tunnel of rings.

"_Zetsubō no yami no fuka-sa kara, kibō no hikari wa, sukui o go an'nai sa sete! Shinkuro Shoukan! Araware o, Haos Blade Tigrerra!"_(3)

A beam shot out of the rings and engulfed the rings. When the light faded, a white tiger with black stripes standing and large fangs with gold armor attached to it with long blade-like spikes sticking out of the armor appeared (5) (ATK: 2000/DEF: 2000). "Now Haos Reactor's ability activates, so you know the drill."

Haos Blade Tigrerra- (ATK: 2500/DEF: 2000)

"Now I'll activate her special ability. On the turn she was synchro summoned, she can swap her attack points with her opponents until the end of the turn. And I think Skyress, fits the bill!" Kurogasa said as energy from both the tiger and phoenix switched places.

Haos Blade Tigrerra- (ATK: 3875/DEF: 2000)

Ventus Storm Skyress- (ATK: 2500/DEF: 2400)

"Blade Tigrerra, attack Ventus Siege with Hyper Velocity Fang!" Kurogasa commanded.

The blades on the armor extended, the tiger let out a huge roar, and then sped towards the green knight and slicing the knight up in different pieces before the green knight shattered into pixels.

**Kurogasa:** 475

**Gamma:** 575

"I'll end my turn from there." Kurogasa finished. Tigrerra and Skyress's attack points swap back to normal.

"Ore no ta-n!" Gamma said and drew his card. "Nice! I play _my_ Pot of Greed! This lets me draw two cards." Gamma said and drew two more. He smirked at what he got. "And now I send three cards from my hand to the graveyard in order to special summon Ventus Master Ingram!" Gamma said as he summoned a green winged-beast like creature that looks like a ninja. It was wearing a scarf cape and has a golden and black mask on his face. The armor on his body is also golden and black and on his waist is a golden belt with green symbols on it with golden gauntlets he has on his wrist each have two claw-like blades extending from them (8) (ATK: 0/DEF: 0)

"A monster with no attack points?" Kurogasa asked confused.

"Ah, but this is where the fun part comes in. For every card discarded to the graveyard to summon Master Ingram, it gains 800 attack and defense points plus 500 extra for each monster on my opponent's side of the field.

Ventus Master Ingram- (ATK: 2900/DEF: 2400)

"Oh no! Then that means-"

"Yep! It's all over for you! Now Master Ingram, attack Blade Tigrerra with Moonlight Slash!" Gamma ordered. Suddenly, the entire field went dark and a crescent moon shined in the sky. Ingram was top of a tree and then its scarf cape turned into wings, swopped down at the tiger and slashed into pixels.

**Kurogasa:** 75

**Gamma:** 575

"And now to finish it off! Storm Skyress, end this!" Gamma yelled. The green phoenix flew up again in the air and then dove towards Kurogasa while green flames enveloped it and small green fireballs going. Gamma was about to win, but not until Kurogasa smirked.

"Why are you smiling?" Gamma asked.

"I'm smiling because you fell for my trap! Go, Mirror Force!" Kurogasa said revealing the trap card.

"NO!" Gamma cried in horror. But it was too late, Skyress already hit the mirror and shattered into pieces sending Skyress back and knocking into Ingram and both were destroyed into pixels.

"Sorry. Now since you got nothing else to play, go ahead and end your turn." Kurogasa said.

"Grr… I end my turn." Gamma growled.

"Thank you. Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa said and drew the card he needed. "Now I play Monster Reborn to bring back Tigrerra to the field!" Kurogasa said and the white tiger appeared. "Now let's finish this off! Blade Tigrerra, attack with Hyper Velocity Fang!" Kurogasa yelled. The white let out a roar and then the blades on the gold armor extended and then at a very fast speed, the tiger slashed at its prey as Gamma's life pointed depleted.

**Kurogasa:** 75

**Gamma:** 0

The holograms faded and the duel disks deactivated. Gamma then suddenly fell to the ground unconscious and Kurogasa winced from the stinging pain from his fake birthmark and he was holding on to his right arm tighter and the mark is glowing brighter than ever. The stinging pain was very strong and it made Kurogasa fall on both knees and he was panting heavily.

"The third duel is now complete. But I see that the birthmark is greatly taking its toll on you. Are you sure you want to continue?" Goodwin asked.

"I'll… be fine… I've come this far, why stop now? Bring in the last clone." Kurogasa said.

There ya go. Again, I sorry about not updating in a while. Anyways, here's a new card to add to Kurogasa's deck.

Haos Blade Tigrerra  
Level: 5  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Beast/Synchro/Effect  
ATK/DEF: 2000/2000  
Effect: On the turn this card is successfully summoned, switch the ATK of this card with one of your opponent's monster's ATK until the End Phase.

(1)- Rises from the ashes of death and let the winds lead you to eternal life! Synchro Summon! Come to life, Ventus Storm Skyress!

(2)- The winds of victory will gather and storm the defeated! Let the winds carve the path to glory and triumph! Synchro Summon! Appear now, Ventus Oberus!

(3)- From the dark depths of despair, let the light of hope guide you to salvation! Synchro Summon! Appear now, Haos Blade Tigrerra!


	17. Chapter 16: Haos vs Subterra

This is it people! The final battle against the clones will now begin! So hold on! It's gonna be a wild and short duel!

Disclaimer: Same as usual.

Chapter 16: Haos vs. Subterra

"Bring in the last clone." Kurogasa said.

"Very well. Delta, come forward." Goodwin said and the final clone did as he was told. "It is now time for the final duel!" He said. Delta and Kurogasa then both activated their duel disks and drew their five cards.

"DUEL!"

**Delta: **4000

**Kurogasa: **4000

"Ore no sentou!" Kurogasa said as he drew his sixth card. He smiled at this. _'Awesome, this is the best hand I've had yet.'_ He thought to himself. "I play my Double Summon spell my Haos Juggernoid in attack mode!" A white reptilian-like turtle appeared (4) (ATK: 1000/DEF: 2000). "But he won't be around for long, because I release him in order to advance summon my Haos Laserman!" The turtle disappeared and in its place was a large white and yellow robot with four long cannons on its shoulders (6) (ATK: 2200/DEF: 2000). "I'll end my turn with a face down."

"Ore no ta-n!" Delta said and drew his sixth card. "I play _my_ Double Summon spell card as well. So now I summon my Subterra Saurus and Subterra Siege to the field!" A brown-colored bipedal triceratops appeared on the field first (4) (ATK: 1700/DEF: 1500), followed by a brown knight in a light brown cape holding a long mace (4) (ATK: 1900/DEF: 1400). "Then I play my Natural Tune spell! It makes one of my monsters a tuner. So I make my Subterra Saurus a tuner!" Delta said as green energy from the card transferred to the dinosaur giving it the powers of a tuner. "And now I tune my level 4 Siege with my level 4 Saurus!"

"A synchro summon on your first turn!" Kurogasa said shocked. Saurus turned into 4 green rings and Siege turned into 4 spheres of light. The spheres of light then lined up in the tunnel of rings.

"_Hakai mezame no shugo-sha! Namida ga chikyū o barabara ni shi, shin no chikara o miru! Shinkuro Shoukan! Kakusei, Subterra Hammer Gorem!"_ (1)

A beam of light shot out of the tunnel of rings and a brown-colored golem with two bull-like horns and upward curved shoulders with double ended hammers appeared (8) (ATK: 2800/DEF: 2600). "Now Hammer Gorem, attack his Laserman with Grand Impact!" Delta ordered. The golem swung his double ended hammer at the robot and it was destroyed in no time into pixels.

**Delta: **4000

**Kurogasa: **3400

"I'll end it with a face-down." Delta finished.

"Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa said and drew his next card from his deck. "I play Monster Reborn! This lets me bring a monster back from either graveyard and I bring back my Laserman to give it a second chance!" The white machine with the four long cannons on its shoulder was back on the field. "Next I play Lightning Vortex! By discarding one card from my hand to graveyard, I can destroy all your face up monsters on the field!" He discarded his only card left in the graveyard and a vortex of lightning surrounded the golem and was destroyed. "Now Laserman, attack his life points with Cannon Firestorm!" Kurogasa ordered. The robot aimed its four long cannons at his clone and fired four long beams. Delta protected himself from the blast.

**Delta: **1800

**Kurogasa: **3400

"I end my turn."

"Ore no ta-n!" Delta said and drew his next card. "I play Card of Sanctity! Both players must now draw until we each have six cards in our hands." Delta said. Kurogasa drew his six cards and Delta having one card in his hand drew five. Kurogasa widened his eyes when he saw his new hand. '_Awesome! Just the cards I need! I just need to hold out this turn.' _Kurogasa thought. "Now I play _my_ Monster Reborn to bring back my Hammer Gorem to the field!" Delta said. The golem was then back on the field. "Next I reveal my Call of the Haunted trap card to bring back my Subterra Siege back!" The brown knight with the long brown mace was back as well. "Now I normal summon Subterra Centipoid to the field in attack mode!" A large brown centipede showed (2) (ATK: 800/DEF: 1000).

"Now I play these two spell cards known as Attribute Change. I'm pretty sure you know what this, so I won't explain it. I change Siege's attribute to wind making Ventus Siege and Centipoid's attribute to dark making it Darkus Centipoid." Delta said as Siege changed colors to green and his mace changed to a poleax. The centipede changed color as well from brown to black and purple.

"And now I play this spell card! Triple Node- Ventus, Subterra, Darkus! It can only work if there's a wind, earth, and dark attribute monster on the field. If there is, then my opponent's monsters lose 2000 of their attack points!"

"Say what!" Kurogasa exclaimed.

Subterra Hammer Gorem- (ATK: 2800/DEF: 2600)

Ventus Siege- (ATK: 1900/DEF: 1400)

Darkus Centipoid- (ATK: 800/DEF: 1000)

Haos Laserman- (ATK: 200/DEF: 2000)

"Oh no!" Kurogasa cried.

"Oh yes! Now Centipoid, attack his Laserman with Spiced Assault!" Delta ordered. The centipede then crawled towards the machine and used sprayed a spray on the machine. The robot started to oxidize and rust and then the centipede crushed it with its pincers and destroying it into pixels.

**Delta: **1800

**Kurogasa: **2800

"Now it's your turn Ventus Siege! Attack his life points directly!" Delta commanded. The green knight charged at Kurogasa with its poleax and stabbed Kurogasa.

**Delta: **1800

**Kurogasa: **900

"Now finish him off Gorem with Grand Impact!" Delta yelled. The golem swung his double ended hammer at Kurogasa and it was about to hit.

"Not so fast! I activate the trap Negate Attack! It stops your attack and ends the Battle Phase immediately!" Kurogasa countered. A clear swirl of vortex appeared and blocked the hammer sending it flying back and Gorem caught it.

"Lucky. I end my turn."

'_Geez, he's managed to take out a good chunk of my life points. I have to end it on this turn, or it's all over for me.'_ Kurogasa thought. "Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa said as he drew his next card. He widened his eyes when he saw what he got. "Alright, I summon Haos Tentaclar in attack mode!" The white floating eyeball with tentacles appeared (3) (ATK: 1350/DEF: 1550). "Now I play the spell card Rapid Haos! I can special summon one light monster from my hand or deck as long as I have a light attribute monster on the field. So I choose to special summon my Haos Monarus from my deck in attack mode!" A white butterfly fairy appeared (3) (ATK: 1000/DEF: 1200). "And when she's successfully summoned, for every card in my opponent's hand, I gain 500 life points!" Delta's one card transferred its energy to Monarus then to Kurogasa.

**Delta: **1800

**Kurogasa: **1400

"And now I normal summon my Haos El Condor to the field!" The white shaman creature with the large Aztec mask appeared (3) (ATK: 1300/DEF: 1100). "Since Haos El Condor is summoned successfully, I can change a monster's level on my side of the field and I choose my Haos Monarus's level to be two." Energy transferred from El Condor to Monarus.

Haos Monarus's Level: 2

"And now I tune my level 3 Tentaclar with my level 3 El Condor!" Kurogasa said next as the events of the tuning process was happening.

"_Ten no houshakou ha, kurayami no ue ni kagayaki, subete no eien no tame ni sore o fusshoku suru! Shinkuro Shoukan! Migaki ni, Haos Ancient Nemus!"_

A beam of light shot out of the rings and the male angelic warrior with yellow armor and angelic wings that are bladed and round and holding a staff appeared (6) (ATK: 2400/DEF: 2000).

"Now I activate his special ability! Once per turn, I can special summon one monster from my graveyard. So I bring back my Haos Laserman!" The machine with the four long cannons appeared. "And then I'll tune him with my Monarus!" Kurogasa said as Laserman turned into six spheres of light and Monarus into two green rings. The stars then lined up in the tunnel of rings.

"_Shinzou no tamashii ga, piasu no hikari o kensaku to yami o uchikudaku! Shinkuro Shoukan! Araware o, Haos Omega Leonidas!"_

The beam of light shot out of the rings and his ace dragon appeared (8) (ATK: 3000/DEF: 2500).

"Now here's another spell card, _my_ Attribute Change and I change Hammer Gorem's attribute to dark making it Darkus Hammer Gorem." The golem changed colors. It was now black and grey.

"Last, but not least, I play my Darkus and Haos Correlation. If there's a light and dark attribute monster on the field then the dark attribute monster loses 1000 of its attack points and my light attribute monster gains 1000 attack points! So now I choose Haos Omega Leonidas to receive 1000 and Darkus Hammer Gorem to lose 1000!"

"Say what!" Delta exclaimed as Gorem's energy was being drained while Kurogasa's dragon is receiving it.

Darkus Hammer Gorem- (ATK: 1800/DEF: 2600)

Haos Omega Leonidas- (ATK: 4000/DEF: 2500)

"And that's more than enough to win! Now Nemus, attack Ventus Siege with Sparkly Arrow!" Kurogasa commanded. The male angelic warrior raised his staff and sent a wave of light energy that's fast as an arrow. The green knight tried to defend with its poleax, but to no avail as it was destroyed into pixels.

**Delta: **1300

**Kurogasa: **1400

"Now Leonidas, attack Darkus Hammer Gorem and end this duel! Omega Eraser!" Kurogasa yelled. The dragon got on its four limbs and a huge ball of energy was forming from its mouth. It then shot a huge laser from its mouth at the golem. The laser reduced the golem to nothing and Delta screamed as his life points depleted.

**Delta: **0

**Kurogasa: **1400

The holograms faded and the duel disks deactivated. Delta then suddenly fell to the ground unconscious and Kurogasa's birthmark is now glowing at its brightest. He screamed at the stinging pain from his fake birthmark and he was holding on to his right arm.

"At last, the final duel is now complete! Now Crimson Dragon, appear to me!" Goodwin said. The huge full mark of the Crimson Dragon glowed really bright red and then the entire area was engulfed in light, and strangely enough, Goodwin can still see. Kurogasa barely held his head up and his eyes widened at what he saw. The Crimson Dragon appeared before him, Goodwin, and Lazar. Words cannot describe it. Despite Kurogasa being in pain, he was awestruck by it.

"Yes, Crimson Dragon, show to us your power!" Goodwin said. But then suddenly, the Crimson Dragon faded away along the light. And then all of a sudden, Kurogasa blacked out.

Later…

Kurogasa slowly opened up his eyes. He noticed that he was on a bed and in a bedroom. He got up slowly and looked around. He saw that it was already morning.

"I see you are awake." A voice said. He turned to where the voice was coming from. He saw Goodwin sitting in a chair that was next to the bed.

"Goodwin…"

"How are you feeling?"

"At this moment, I have a headache and I feel dizzy… W-What happened?"

"Well… the duels you completed made the Crimson Dragon appear momentarily, but… it faded away." Goodwin said grimly.

"Wait, are you saying…"

"Yes. Reviving the Crimson Dragon with those fake birthmarks failed. It seems that I need the real birthmarks to happen." Kurogasa had his head down.

"All for nothing huh… I'm sorry Goodwin." Kurogasa sighed in disappointment.

"No, I'm the one that should be sorry Kurogasa. It's not your fault that you really wanted to repay me by helping me. My impatience had taken over me the moment I asked you to help me to revive the Crimson Dragon. It didn't occur to me at that time, but By when I realized that, it was already too late the moment the Crimson Dragon faded away. You are not to blame Kurogasa." Somehow, Kurogasa felt somewhat better, but he still felt guilty.

"Still…" Kurogasa said.

"It's alright. Despite it being a failure, I thank you for everything for you have done for me." Goodwin said putting a hand on Kurogasa's shoulder. The boy could only nod at this moment. "Well, I think it's time that you must get going. Your friends must be worried about you. What are you going to do now once you meet with them?" Goodwin asked. Kurogasa was silent for a while.

"Well, I got nothing to else to do, but to help Yusei out at the Fortune Cup. I'm gonna help him and all my friends in any way I can."

"I see. I won't stop you from doing that then. I wish you all the best." Goodwin said.

"Thank you." Kurogasa said as he got from bed, and left the mansion. Kurogasa got outside the mansion and his duel runner was right there waiting for him. He puts on his helmet, started the engine and drove off. A few hours later, he got to the Daimon Area and to the apartment where Blister and Yusei was at. He stopped his runner and opened up the garage and there was Yusei working on his runner and then staring at him with surprise.

"Kurogasa!" Yusei asked surprised.

"Hey… Yusei…"

"Where have you been? I haven't seen you ever since you left to duel Jack."

"Sorry, there was… something I had to do after I dueled Jack, which by the way, I won."

"That's great that you won, but, what did you do after that?"

"It was… a personal matter I had to attend to." Kurogasa said hesitantly. Yusei looked at him suspiciously, but he decided not to pry about it. "I see. That aside, we need to get ready for the Fortune Cup that's about to come up in about a week. Rally and the others really need our help."

"And I'll be able to help you with that any way I can." Kurogasa said.

"Good. So let's get to it." Yusei said with a small smile. And with that, Kurogasa and Yusei went on to prepare themselves for the Fortune Cup.

Whew! Got that all done! Those duels with the clones were a pain in the neck, but I managed to get it done. Next chapter, the Fortune Cup begins! Get ready for that, because it's going to be intense.

(1)- The guardian of destruction awakens! Tear asunder the earth and show true power! Synchro Summon! Awaken, Subterra Hammer Gorem!


	18. DUEL MONSTER DECK DATABASE UPDATE

**DUEL MONSTER DECK DATABASE UPDATE**

Hey everyone! Just so you know, this is a Duel Monster Database update. Some cards will be added, some new ones replacing the old ones, and effect monster's effects may change, so I'm giving you a heads up. Here's an update on Kurogasa's deck.

Monsters

Haos Falconeer  
Level: 4  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Winged-Beast  
ATK/DEF: 1600/1400

Haos Hynoid  
Level: 4  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Beast  
ATK/DEF: 1300/1000

Haos Juggernoid  
Level: 4  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Reptile  
ATK/DEF: 1000/2000

Haos Ravenoid  
Level: 4  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Winged-Beast  
ATK/DEF: 1500/1200

Haos Saurus  
Level: 4  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Dinosaur  
ATK/DEF: 1700/1500

Haos Siege  
Level: 4  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Warrior  
ATK/DEF: 1900/1400

Haos Griffin  
Level: 5  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Beast  
ATK/DEF: 1800/2000

Haos Fear Ripper  
Level: 5  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Fiend  
ATK/DEF: 1750/1550

Haos Tuskor  
Level: 5  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Beast  
ATK/DEF: 2000/2000

Haos Laserman  
Level: 6  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Machine  
ATK/DEF: 2200/2000

Effect Monsters

Haos Centipoid  
Level: 2  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Insect/Effect  
ATK/DEF: 800/1000  
Effect: If this card is attacked and destroyed by an opponent's monster, destroy the monster that attacked this card.

Haos Robattalion  
Level: 2  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Machine/Effect  
ATK/DEF: 900/900  
Effect: During the Battle Phase of the turn you Normal Summon this card, you can double its original ATK until the end of the Battle Phase.

Haos El Condor  
Level: 3  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Spellcaster/Tuner  
ATK/DEF: 1300/1100  
Effect: When you Normal Summon this card successfully, change the level of one Monster on your side of the field to the desired level needed for tuning.

Haos Manion  
Level: 3  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Fiend/Effect  
ATK/DEF: 1350/1000  
Effect: If this card is targeted by a Spell or a Trap card, negate and destroy that card.

Haos Monarus  
Level: 3  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Fairy/Tuner  
ATK/DEF: 1000/1200  
Effect: When this card is successfully summoned, for every card in your opponent's hand, increase your Life Points by 500.

Haos Tentaclar  
Level: 3  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Fiend/Effect  
ATK/DEF: 1350/1550  
Effect: If targeted, once per turn, you can negate a monster's attack.

Turbo Booster  
Level: 1  
Attribute: Earth  
Type: Machine/Effect  
ATK/DEF: 0/0  
Effect: If you have Normal Summoned a monster this turn, you can Special Summon this card from your hand. You can Tribute this card to destroy 1 monster your opponent controls that battled one of your monsters this turn.

Synchro Monsters

Haos Blade Tigrerra  
Level: 5  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Beast/Synchro/Effect  
ATK/DEF: 2000/2000  
Effect: On the turn this card is successfully summoned, switch the ATK of this card with one of your opponent's monster's ATK until the End Phase.

Haos Aranaut  
Level: 6  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Warrior/Synchro  
ATK/DEF: 2000/2000  
Effect: 1 Tuner Monster + 1 or More Non-Tuner Monster

Haos Ancient Nemus  
Level: 6  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Fairy/Synchro/Effect  
ATK/DEF: 2400/2000  
Effect: 1 Tuner Monster + 1 or More Non-Tuner Monster  
Once per turn, you can Special Summon 1 LIGHT Monster from your Graveyard in Attack or Defense Position.

Haos Lars Lion  
Level: 7  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Warrior/Synchro/Effect  
ATK/DEF: 2500/2000  
Effect: 1 Tuner Monster + 1 or More Non-Tuner Monster  
When this card is successfully summoned, increase the ATK of all Monsters on your side of the field by 500.

Haos Omega Leonidas  
Level: 8  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Dragon/Synchro/Effect  
ATK/DEF: 3000/2500  
Effect: 1 Tuner Monster + 1 or More Non-Tuner Monster  
Once per turn, you can choose 1 LIGHT Monster from your Graveyard and this card receives half of the original ATK points of the chosen monster until the end of the Battle Phase.

Spells and Speed Spell Cards

Haos Reactor  
Type: Field  
Effect: When a LIGHT Monster is summoned; increase that Monster's ATK by 500.

Darkus and Haos Correlation  
Type: Normal  
Effect: Activate only if there is a LIGHT and DARK Monster on the field. Subtract the DARK Monster's ATK by 1000 and add it to the LIGHT Monster's ATK.

Attribute Change  
Type: Normal  
Effect: Select 1 Monster and change that Monster (s) attribute.  
x2

Rapid Haos  
Type: Quick-Play  
Effect: You can Special Summon 1 LIGHT Monster from your hand or deck as long as you have a LIGHT Monster on the field.

Triple Node- Pyrus, Aquos, Haos  
Type: Normal  
Effect: Activate only if there is a FIRE, WATER, and LIGHT Monster (s) on the field. Increase the ATK of those Monsters by 2000.

Those are the Monsters and Spell Cards I made up as cards and will be using. The rest are real and you can look it up on the Yu-Gi-Oh Wikia.

Double Summon  
Lightwave Tuning  
Pot of Greed  
Monster Reborn  
Natural Tune  
Demotion  
Synchro Boost x2

Speed Spells

Angel Baton  
Speed Jammer x2  
Wheelie Breaker  
Dash Pilfer  
Sonic Buster  
Speed Energy  
Half Size  
Count Up  
Gap Storm  
Summon Speeder

Trap Cards

Synchro Material  
Mirror Force  
Defense Draw  
Miracle's Wake  
Destruction Jammer  
Bottomless Trap Hole  
Divine Wrath  
Synchro Blast  
Synchro Prominence  
Synchro Stream  
Negate Attack  
Slip Stream


	19. Chapter 17: The Fortune Cup Begins!

Okay ladies and gentlemen, it's time for the Fortune Cup to begin! Get ready guys and gals, things are about to heat up! You should already know about the duel monster deck database update I just put up eariler, so now that you have been given the heads-up, let's start this chapter!

Disclaimer: Same thing.

Chapter 17: The Fortune Cup Begins!

For the next week, Kurogasa and Yusei have been preparing themselves for the Fortune Cup. They modified their duel runners to maximize their speed and they also modified their decks as well. Also, Kurogasa had been working on a small project recently. Thanks to the smart brain he had, he was able to finish making a custom hybrid duel disk that could work for ground and turbo duels and also reflect on what theme his deck has.

"Awesome! It's finished!" Kurogasa said putting the final touches on it. "So Yusei, how does it look?" He asked showing it to him. It was only the circular part of the disk. It was white and on the top was a white Haos symbol that covered the top entirely and in the middle of the symbol was the life point counter.

"Where are the monster zones?" Yusei asked confused.

"Ah, that's where _this_ comes in." Kurogasa said holding out his deck. He inserted the deck inside the deck slot and then the monster zones came out of the circular part of the disk. The monster zones were white with silver edges and each zone looked like an angel wing. Not to mention that the zones spread out like angel wings. Then the monster zones move to the front of the circular part of the disk and snap together in the middle.

"Nice!" Yusei smiled with approval.

"I know right? And watch this." Kurogasa said as he took his deck out of the disk and monster zones went in reverse. It separated in the middle, pulls back to the circular part, and folds right back inside the duel disk leaving only the circular part of the disk showing the Haos symbol.

"Nice!" He said with approval as well.

"Well, we better get to the Fortune Cup. We can't be late for that now can we?"

Later…

We now turn our attention to the Kaiba Dome, the grand stage of where the Fortune Cup is about to take place. The stadium was filled with thousands of spectators wanting to watch non-stop duels. Meanwhile, in a corridor, Yusei, Kurogasa, Leo, Luna, Dexter, Yanagi and Tanner were there. Leo was disguising himself as Luna and is wearing her clothes too. Luna was wearing a yellow hat and an orange jacket to hide her identity from the crowds.

"So how do I look?" Leo asked.

"You're as good a Luna, as Luna as." Yanagi said.

"I don't know. This is a really bad idea Leo." Kurogasa said with a sweat drop.

"Oh c'mon! Luna doesn't want to duel so I'm dueling for her."

"Look, I really appreciate looking after your sister and all, but it really _is_ a bad idea. What will happen if your cover gets blown anyways?"

"They won't know the difference!"

"Okay guys, stop arguing." Yusei said being the moderator.

"I still think that this is a bad idea." Kurogasa muttered.

"You've made your point and so did Leo, let's just get to the stadium alright?" Yusei sighed.

"Fine." They both said and Leo, Kurogasa, and Yusei were about to leave until…

"Wait." Luna said. The three guys looked back at her.

"What is it?" Kurogasa asked.

"I… I want to duel." Luna said boldly. This surprised everyone.

"Seriously?" Dexter asked not believing what he was hearing.

"Are my ears hearing right?" Yanagi asked.

"Are you crazy Luna? You said that you don't want to duel!" Leo exclaimed.

"I know, but… I might as well get it over with right? The sooner, the better. But there's still the fact that I'm too scared to duel."

"Well then…" Kurogasa said stepping forward towards Luna and kneeling on one knee on her level. "I'll be right there next to ya while you're dueling cheering you on." He smiled.

"Really?"

"Of course. Although, I might take some verbal abuse from the audience, I'll be with ya the whole time."

"Thanks so much." Luna said smiling.

"Are you sure you wanna go through with this?" Yusei asked.

"Yes."

"Well, let's get going then." Kurogasa said finishing the conversation. The two guys and girl then went on their way to the stadium leaving a disappointed Leo, and Dexter, Tanner, and Yanagi behind. '_Something's fishy is going on in this tournament. Yusei, Kurogasa, better watch your backs.'_ Tanner thought. As the three went on their way, a certain familiar officer showed up.

"TRUDGE!" Kurogasa and Yusei said at the same time with surprise.

"Who?" Luna asked.

"That's the Security guy that's been chasing us." Kurogasa whispered.

"Well, look what we have here. If it isn't the two Satellite punks." Trudge smirked.

"What are you doing here!" Kurogasa asked angrily.

"I'm here like you guys and the girl. I'm in the tournament. I asked Goodwin himself so I can be able to make you pay for humiliating me. And I'll make sure you both lose, because once I win, I'm gonna lock you two up for good."

"Sorry, but that's not happening." Yusei said.

"Oh, it will happen. Just wait and see. I'll see you at the stadium." Trudge said and with that, he left.

"Damn, that Trudge doesn't know when to quit does he?" Kurogasa said.

"We'll worry about him later. Let's just get to the stadium."

Meanwhile, over at the Kaiba Dome Duel Stage…

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, BOY AND GIRLS, DUELISTS YOUNG AND OLD, PROFESSONIALS AND AMETAURS ALIKE, PUT YOUR HANDS TOGETHER FOR THE MASTER OF CEREMONIES, DIRECTOR REX GOODWIN!" The MC announced into the microphone with Goodwin in his seat and a podium in front of him. The crowd cheered, but was cut short when a sudden blast of wind formed a large tornado. When the tornado dispersed, Red Dragon Archfiend appeared. It then flew over the stadium and then on the duel stage.

"RED DRAGON ARCHFIEND HAS APPEARED, WHICH CAN ONLY MEAN ONE THING!" The MC announced. Below the duel stage. A certain white colored duel runner came out of an entrance that connected to a path that connects to the duel runner track. It was Jack Atlas's duel runner. "PLEASE WELCOME, THE KING OF ALL TURBO DUELS, THE MASTER OF FASTER, THE ONE AND ONLY JACK ATLAS!" The MC yelled. Thousands of spectators cheered as he Jack continued to drive on the duel track. He then maneuvered his runner to the curved glass barrier, using the speed as momentum, and flew in the air and landed on the duel stage next to his ace dragon. He took off his helmet and got off his runner.

"New Domino City! What say we kick this tournament into overdrive?" Jack asked as the crowd cheered for him. Let's get this started!" Jack announced.

"AND NOW LET'S MEET THE DUELISTS WHO ARE GOING TO COMPETE FOR A CHANCE TO TAKE ON JACK ATLAS! MEET THE FORTUNE 8!"

One of the duel areas split open and the two halves slid into the ground around as a platform rose from beneath, with eight people on it.

"INTODUCING THE MYSTERIOUS SHIRA, THE GREAT GRIEGER, COMMANDER CODA, MISS AKIZA IZINSKI, OFFICER TETSU TRUDGE, THE LOVELY MISS LUNA, YUSEI FUDO, AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST ONE HALF OF THE TAG TEAM TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS, KUROGASA KURURUGI!"

"That's one of the winners of the tag team tournament? He has a mark on his face! He's a Satellite!"

"Yeah! He never had a mark when he entered the tag team tournament! Why does he have one now?"

"I bet he sneaked into the tournament and then stole someone's invitation for this tournament somehow!"

"The same goes for that other one! He could've stolen someone's invitation too!"

'_Aw crap, I completely forgot that I hid my mark by covering it with some make-up when I entered the Tag Team Tournament with Blister." _Kurogasa thought cringing at that. Yusei just stood there as if it was nothing and took the verbal abuse, the other competitors just stood there as well. Rex closed his eyes and the MC looked around with a panicked expression. Trudge just smirked enjoying what the audience was giving the two Satellites. Suddenly, Greiger stepped forwards and snatched up the microphone.

"I have to say something!" he shouted. The noise stopped immediately. "My name is Greiger! I know things are different in this city, but where I come from, you judge a guy on his spirit!" he pointed towards Yusei and Kurogasa. "These kids may have been branded by your people as no-goods, but when I look at them, all I see are duelists! And being a duelist myself, I have to respect them until they give me a reason not to! A duelist isn't judged on where they come from, who their family is or how much money they have, that isn't what matters!" After finishing his speech, he went to give back the MC, his microphone and went back in line. Rex opened his eyes and began to clap, and finally the audience joining in.

Then the director stood up, "I thank Greiger for his well-chosen and heartfelt words," he said. "In our world, social status and personal wealth draw a line between us and our fellow man. I had a vision of a tournament that could, even for a fleeting moment, remove that line, a tournament separate from the competition of life, where the haves and have-nots can meet each other on a level playing field and prove themselves to each other and the world. Welcome to the Fortune Cup!" the crowd cheered.

"And now, let's turn to the bracket-shuffler, and reveal the first eight who will be dueling in the preliminaries!" The screen and hologram displayed a tournament bracket displaying all eight duelists. The images began to shuffle, then stopped and the pairings flashed up on screen.

**Luna vs. Greiger**

**Yusei Fudo vs. Shira**

**Kurogasa Kururugi vs. Tetsu Trudge**

**Commander Coda vs. Akiza Izinski**

"Looks like I'm up against Greiger." Luna said glancing at him for a moment. _'Can I really do this?'_ Luna thought.

"Aw great, why is it that I always get paired up with Trudge?" Kurogasa muttered to himself. Just then Trudge stepped forward and snatched the MC's microphone.

"Director Goodwin, with your permission, I would like my duel with Kurogasa to happen now!" Trudge said. This has got the people confused. Their duel doesn't start until the duel between Yusei and Shira.

"SAY WHAT!" Kurogasa shouted. Yusei looked at Trudge with a wide-eyed stare.

"And why should I approve of your request?" Goodwin asked. "You already asked to be in this tournament and now you're asking me to have your duel with Kurogasa now?"

"Don't worry sir. It will be all over and quick. That Satellite punk has humiliated me for long enough when I turbo dueled three times with him winning and I want my justice now!" Trudge said. Some of the people in the audience started to cheer for Trudge and not Kurogasa. Goodwin stared at the officer for a while. "I see. You want revenge do you? Very well, but keep in mind that your revenge could lead you to your downfall."

"It won't." Trudge said with an evil smile.

"WELL, YOU HEARD THAT FOLKS! THIS TOURNAMENT IS GOING TO START OUT WITH A TURBO DUEL BETWEEN OFFICER TETSU TRUDGE AND KUROGASA KURURUGI!" The MC announced. The crowd cheered on that.

Later…

Yusei, Kurogasa, and Luna were sat in the competitors' lounge.

"Oh, I forgot to thank you for fixing our duel disks! It looks great!" Leo said.

"Glad you like it." Yusei smiled.

While they were talking, Kurogasa was looking around at the dueling lounge. He then noticed the girl whose name was Akiza. She was average height, has fair skin, brown eyes, and dark burgundy hair which is mostly chin-length with long, elbow-length bangs that frame both sides of her face. She rolls her front bangs with a hair curler on top of her head, while a bit hangs down on each side. She wears a low-cut red corset with short, light green puffy sleeves and a high collar and also sports a sleeveless magenta trench coat that flares behind her which is shorter and pleated in the front. Other things she wore was a red neck choker and an emerald crested, golden cross-shaped medallion, as well as a pair of dark, elbow-length gloves with a pair of gold bracelets above them. She wears thigh high socks that are dark, and are connected to her skirt and she wears red high heeled pumps with them. The dark burgundy-haired girl noticed he was looking at her, but Kurogasa quickly turned his head back in hopes that she did not notice.

'_That girl… She looks familiar. I feel like that I've met her somewhere before, but I can't seem to remember where.' _ Kurogasa thought. Yusei then noticed the worried look on his face.

"Something wrong, Kurogasa?" Yusei asked.

"Huh?" Kurogasa asked back snapping him out of his thoughts and looking at Yusei. "Oh, um, it's nothing. Just kinda nervous, that's all." Kurogasa said.

"Nervous? C'mon you beat Trudge before."

"I know. But dueling Trudge while the crowd's giving ya the cold shoulder, how could I _not_ be nervous?"

"Just relax, you got this." Yusei said giving him a pat on the back.

"Yeah. You're right, I got this. No worries." Kurogasa said pulling himself together. "Okay, I'm off to wipe the floor with Trudge. Or in this case, track." Kurogasa said.

"Go for it buddy." Yusei smiled giving Kurogasa a thumbs up.

"Good luck!" Luna cheered.

"Thanks guys." And with that, Kurogasa headed straight for the garage to get his duel runner. A few minutes later, he arrived at the garage and found his duel runner. He then placed his custom duel disk on the runner and the angel wing monster zones came out. He then puts his deck on his wrist dealer and the deck shuffled; He puts on his Jack Atlas style helmet, and revved up the engine. "It's go time."

"IT'S NOW TIME FOR THE FIRST TURBO DUEL TO GET UNDERWAY! INTRODUCING FIRST, HE IS ONE HALF OF THE TAG TEAM TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS, THE LIGHT LORD FROM SATELLITE, KUROGASA KURURUGI!"

Smoke rose up from the entrance where Jack entered at the beginning of the tournament and Kurogasa raced out. He drove around the track until he maneuvered his runner 90 to his left and skidded to a halt to his starting position.

"Go back to where you belong Satellite reject!" One spectator shouted.

"No one wants you here!"Another yelled angrily.

"I hope Officer Trudge beats you!"

"AND HIS OPPONENT, AN OFFICER OF SECTOR SECURITY HOPING TO BRING JUSTICE ON HIM IS OFFICER TETSU TRUDGE!" The MC announced. Trudge came out of the same entrance with his security duel runner up and going. The crowd was cheering for him as he took his starting position next to Kurogasa.

"I'm gonna enjoy humiliating you. Once I lock you up for good after this duel, Yusei's next!"

"First of all, about saying you're going to enjoy humiliating me, say it _after_ you beat me. I told you before Trudge, it's not gonna happen! After this duel, it's gonna be _me_ that's gonna take the victory lap!"

"We'll see." Trudge said.

"GENTLEMEN, START YOUR ENGINES!" The MC yelled.

"FI-RUDO MAHO! SUPIDO WARUDO! SETTO ON!" Both turbo duelists yelled as they revved up their engines and both pressed a button on their runners.

"**DUEL MODE. AUTOPILOT ON. STANDBY."**

The words 'DUEL MODE' appeared on both screens and the screens then showed the playing field and their speed counters. A purple aura shot out of both duel runners. "THIS IS IT PEOPLE! THEY ACTIVATED SPEED WORLD MEANING THAT THE ONLY SPELLS THEY CAN PLAY ARE SPEED SPELLS! ALSO, THE FIRST DUELIST TO TURN THE FIRST CORNER GOES FIRST!"

"RIDING DUEL, ACCELERATION!"

Both duelists then sped off. At first Kurogasa was getting the upper hand, but then Trudge came up from behind and managed to get past him and turn the first corner. Trudge and Kurogasa then drew their hand and put their cards on the wrist dealer.

"Looks like I go first." Trudge said.

**Kurogasa:** 4000/**SPC: **0

**Trudge:** 4000/**SPC: **0

"Ore no ta-n!" Trudge said and drew his sixth card. "Since we didn't duel in a while, I'll let you get reacquainted with my Gate Blocker!" Trudge slaps the card on the duel disk in defense mode and the big slab of stone with the large eye appeared (4) (ATK: 100/DEF: 2000).

"WHAT A MOVE! TRUDGE HAS KUROGASA'S SPEED COUNTERS LOCKED NOW THAT GATE BLOCKER IS ON THE FIELD!" The MC announced.

"Great. Just like last time." Kurogasa muttered.

"Now I'll set a facedown and end my turn." Trudge said.

"Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa said as he drew his sixth card. He looked at his hand and he was actually surprised at what he has in his hand. '_Oh man, I can't believe what I got in my hand. This is gonna be over in no time. Now let's see, He's got Gate Blocker and that facedown. My guess is that it's Broken Blocker. He'll try to keep on blocking my speed counters. In that case…'_

**Kurogasa's SPC: **0

**Trudge's SPC: **1

"Alright Trudge, you're about to go down in two of my turns." Kurogasa declared. Everyone was surprised at what he said.

"What? Impossible! There's no way you can do that!" Trudge said.

"If I was able to beat Chief Armstrong back at the Facility in three of my turns, then I can do that to you in two! So I'm gonna beat you in two of my turns! Count on it!" Everyone was surprised to hear him say that. To them, it's impossible to do that.

"I DON'T BELIEVE WHAT I'M HEARING FOLKS! IT LOOKS LIKE KUROGASA WILL TRY TO BEAT HIM IN TWO OF HIS TURNS! CAN HE ACTUALLY DO THAT?" The MC announced.

"I'm not gonna _try_ to beat to him in two of my turns! I _am_ going to beat him in two of my turns! So here's my first one! Since I can't gain speed counters from Speed World due to Gate Blocker's effect, I'll just summon my tuner monster, Haos Monarus in attack mode!" Kurogasa declared. The white and yellow butterfly-like fairy creature appeared (3) (ATK: 1000/DEF: 1200). "And when she's successfully summoned, for every card in my opponent's hand I gain 500 points. You have four meaning I gain 2000 points plus 2 speed counters!" He smirked. Trudge growled as energy from the cards transferred to Monarus and then to Kurogasa.

**Kurogasa:** 6000/**SPC: **2

**Trudge:** 4000/**SPC: **1

"WHAT A MOVE! KUROGASA HAS FOUND A WAY TO GAIN SPEED COUNTERS EVEN WHEN GATE BLOCKER IS ON THE FIELD!" The MC announced.

"And with that, I'll play my Count Up speed spell! I can only activate it only if I have 2 or more speed counters. I can discard any number of cards from my hand to the graveyard and for each one discarded, I gain two more speed counters. So I now discard one card to gain two more counters." Kurogasa discarded one card in the graveyard.

**Kurogasa's SPC: **4

**Trudge's SPC: **1

"Now that that's done, I can play my Summon Speeder speed spell! If I have at least 4 or more speed counters, I can summon a level 4 or lower monster from my hand. So now, I special summon my Haos Manion to the field! A white and yellow sphinx-like creature appeared next to Monarus (3) (ATK: 1350/DEF: 1000). "And now I'll tune my level 3 Manion with my level 3 Monarus!" Monarus turned into three green rings and Manion into 3 balls of light. The spheres of light then lined up in the tunnel of rings.

"_Ten no houshakou ha, kurayami no ue ni kagayaki, subete no eien no tame ni sore o fusshoku suru Shinkuro Shoukan! Migaki ni, Haos Ancient Nemus!"_

A beam of light shot out of the rings and then the male armored angelic warrior with his staff appeared (6) (ATK: 2400/DEF: 2000). "Now I'll activate his special ability! Once per turn, Nemus can bring a monster back from my graveyard and I bring my Haos Laserman back from the graveyard thanks to discarding it from using Count Up! Divine Light!" Nemus's staff glowed and shined it on the ground and then the white machine with four long cannons appeared (6) (ATK: 2200/DEF: 2000).

"INCREDIBLE, HE MANAGED TO SUMMON POWERFUL MONSTERS THIS FAST, AND IT'S REALLY EARLY IN THE DUEL! WHAT WILL TRUDGE DO NOW?" The MC broadcasted.

"Now Laserman, take down that slab with Leap Sting!" Kurogasa ordered. Laserman attacked with its cannons and hit the slab and then Laserman attacked from another direction and hit it and then it started attacking from all directions until the slab of stone crumbled to pieces.

"Nice, since you destroyed my Gate Blocker, I can activate my Broken Blocker trap card!" Trudge said revealing his trap. The trap card glowed and then beamed went in front of Kurogasa forming two more Gate Blockers. "This lets me summon two more Gate Blockers." Trudge finished.

"I knew it. Now if I'm right, next turn, he'll summon his ace…" Kurogasa muttered to himself. "Nemus, attack a Gate Blocker with Ancient Glow!" He commanded. Nemus's staff glowed with light and then engulfed one of the Gate Blockers with light. When the light faded, the Gate Blocker was no more.

"I'll end my turn with a facedown." Kurogasa finished placing a reverse card on the field.

Ore no ta-n!" Trudge said and drew a card.

**Kurogasa's SPC: **4

**Trudge's SPC: **2

"I summon the tuner monster Jutte Fighter!" Trudge said and the small Japanese man with a tuning fork and a paper lantern on its back appeared (2) (ATK: 700/DEF: 900). "And you know what that means, I tune my level 4 Gate Blocker with my level 2 Jutte Fighter in order to synchro summon Goyo Guardian!" Trudge said. The events of the synchro summon happened and then the kabuki actor wielding a jutte tied to a long rope appeared (6) (ATK: 2800/DEF: 2000). "Heh. I was right." Kurogasa muttered to himself smirking.

"Now Goyo Guardian, attack his Ancient Nemus!" Trudge ordered. The kabuki actor twirled his rope and threw his jutte tied to the rope to Nemus and it was about to hit the angelic warrior.

"Not so fast! I activate my Mirror Force trap card reflecting it back at you and destroying your monster!"

"NOO!" Trudge cried as the jutte hit the mirror that protected Nemus and the tied jutte went back to Goyo Guardian, poked him in the chest and was destroyed into pixels.

"OH MAN, THAT'S GOING TO COST HIM! HIS ONLY MONSTER IS NOW DESTROYED BY KUROGASA'S MIRROR FORCE!" The MC announced.

"You're gonna pay for that, you Satellite scum!" Trudge yelled.

"Heh. _You're_ the one that's gonna pay for it, by losing! C'mon Trudge, you lost to me three times already, and one of them was when I was tagging with Yusei. The reason you keep on losing against me is because you're so predictable, it's getting really annoying. Now are you done yet?"

"After I place this facedown!" Trudge growled.

"Now here's my second and final turn. Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa said and drew his card.

**Kurogasa's SPC: **5

**Trudge's SPC: **3

"THIS IS IT PEOPLE! CAN KUROGASA _REALLY_ BEAT TRUDGE IN TWO OF HIS TURNS?" The MC asked. Trudge and the crowd tensed as they wait for what Kurogasa drew from his deck. Kurogasa looked at the card and then smirked.

"Game over…" Kurogasa said. Trudge didn't like the sound of that. Some of the people didn't like it either.

"WHAT!" Trudge roared.

"I told you. Game over. Before I play this card, first I activate Nemus's special ability! So I revive Haos Manion back to the field!" Kurogasa said as Nemus used his staff to bring back the sphinx like creature. "And now I'll play the card I drew, I summon the tuner monster, Haos El Condor!" Kurogasa yelled. He slapped the card on one of the monsters zones and the white shaman creature with the large Aztec mask appeared (3) (ATK: 1300/DEF: 1100). "Then I'll activate his special ability, once successfully normal summoned, I can change the level of one of my monsters so I choose Haos Laserman's level to be level 5!" Green energy transferred from El Condor to Laserman.

Haos Laserman's level: 5

"And now I tune my level 5 Laserman with my level 3 El Condor!" The shaman creature turned into 3 green rings and Laserman into 5 spheres of light. The spheres of light then lined up in the tunnel of rings.

"_Shinzou no tamashii ga, piasu no hikari o kensaku to yami o uchikudaku! Shinkuro Shokan! Araware o, Haos Omega Leonidas!"_

A beam of light shot out of the rings and Kurogasa's ace dragon appeared (8) (ATK: 3000/DEF: 2500)

"WOW! JUDGING BY HOW IT LOOKS AND HOW POWERFUL THAT DRAGON IS, THAT'S GOTTA BE KUROGASA'S ACE MONSTER!" The MC announced.

"NO! I can't lose! I'm not gonna lose to you Satellite trash again!" Trudge yelled.

"You know what Trudge? I'm getting tired of you."

"WHAT!" Trudge yelled.

"Up until now, you've been harassing me, Yusei, and my other friends back at Satellite for too long! All you officers and rich people that hate us Satellites, see rules that need to be upheld and you see us break them, but you never ask yourselves _why_ we break those rules. Sure, there may be bad people in Satellite that break rules for their own personal reasons, but there are also good people too in the Satellite that break the rules because they are only trying to survive and get by, and maybe, hopefully, life in the Satellite wouldn't be as bad as they think it is. Not to mention, that there are good duelists as well in Satellite too with great potential that they could go pro. But you Sector Security and rich people still look down on us like trash and the duelists in Satellite are never recognized for their great potential and skill _as_ a duelist! They have as much right to live here as well in New Domino City! And I'm gonna prove to everyone here in this stadium, no, to the entire world, in every town and city having a war of social status, that in this world, it isn't always and never will be black and white!"

The people watched in silence after Kurogasa made that speech. Maybe they were starting to understand what Kurogasa was saying.

"This first attack is for all the people in Satellite! Haos Manion, attack his life points directly!" Kurogasa ordered. The winged sphinx like creature flew and was going for him.

"I activate my Negate Attack! This trap stops your attack and ends the battle immediately!" Trudge said as a clear vortex started to form.

"Too bad, because Manion can negate a Spell or Trap card if it is targeted!"

"WHAT?" Trudge said shocked.

"So Manion, destroy that trap with Alan-Ray and proceed to attack Trudge after!" Kurogasa commanded ignoring Trudge's remark. The sphinx creature shot two beams out of its eyes and destroyed the clear vortex and then it went to Trudge.

**Kurogasa:** 6000/**SPC: **5

**Trudge:** 2650/**SPC: **2

"This next one is for beating me up back at the Facility! Nemus, attack him directly with Sparkly Arrow!" Kurogasa commanded next. Nemus swung his staff and wave of light energy as fast as an arrow hits Trudge. Trudge's runner wobbled roughly as it was impacted with the light energy.

**Kurogasa:** 6000/**SPC: **5

**Trudge:** 250/**SPC: **0

Kurogasa then maneuvered his duel runner 90 to its side as it was sliding on the track. "And this last attack… is for messing with me, Yusei, and my Satellite friends! Also, maybe this duel will teach you to never judge people! Leonidas, finish it off with Omega Eraser!" Kurogasa yelled. The dragon turned to Trudge, opened up its mouth and fired a huge blue beam from its mouth. Trudge yelled as his life points depleted.

**Kurogasa:** 6000/**SPC: **5

**Trudge:** 0/**SPC: **0

Trudge's duel runner screen showed a big red X and steam was coming out of the duel runner. Trudge spun out of control for a while and then skidded to a halt. Kurogasa stopped a few feet ahead of him.

"I DON'T BELIEVE IT LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! HE ACTUALLY DEFEATED TRUDGE IN TWO OF HIS TURN AND HE NEVER LOST A SINGLE LIFE POINT! KUROGASA IS OUR WINNER AND HE WILL BE GOING TO THE SEMI-FINALS!" The MC announced. The audience was silent for a long time, taking in of what transpired. Then one person started clapping. Soon, a few people, and a small crowd, and then it grew larger and larger until everyone in the stadium started cheering for Kurogasa. Kurogasa looked around seeing the many people that first despised him, now cheering for him. He then waved towards the people. Without him noticing, Trudge left the track in defeat.

"WHAT AN AMAZING DUEL! LET'S HOPE THAT THESE OTHER DUELS WILL BE EXCITING AS THAT ONE! KUROGASA, TAKE A VICTORY LAP!" The MC said.

"Don't mind if I do! YAHOOOO!" Kurogasa said revving his engine again and drove around the track one last time as the crowd cheered for him.


	20. Chapter 18: War with Spirits

It's time for the next chapter of the Fortune Cup. Hope you guys are ready for it. So, let's get going! Oh, and before I forget this duel was entirely created by The Duelist of Dawn. I just did the dialogue for before and after the duel and a little bit of refining during the duel. You know doing those Japanese phrases like Watashi no ta-n, Doro, all that. But give him credit for doing this duel. I mean, you can still say good chapter or something in your review, but this entire duel was definitely made by The Duelist of Dawn, so PM him on saying good job on the duel. Alrighty then, now that we're clear on that, let's start this chapter!

Disclaimer: Same as usual.

Chapter 18: War with Spirits

Kurogasa was walking in the hallways of the stadium until he came up to the duelist lounge. The doors opened and the sight of Yusei and Luna greeted him first.

"Hey Kurogasa, that was an amazing duel!" Luna said running up to him. Yusei followed by walking towards him.

"Thanks! I told ya I was gonna wipe the track with Trudge." Kurogasa said.

"That duel oughta put Trudge in his place, finally. And that mini speech you just said before you beat him, I couldn't have said it better myself." Yusei smirked.

"Yeah, that Trudge was just a pain in the butt."

"Well Luna, It's your turn now." Yusei said.

"That's right; your match against Greiger is coming up soon. We better head over to the duel arena." Kurogasa said.

"Okay. I just hope I can get over my fear of dueling in front of a lot of people." Luna said with a little anxiety in her voice. Kurogasa then knelt on one knee at her level and faced her.

"That's why I'm coming with ya. I'll be standing next to ya during the entire duel cheering you on. You don't have to worry about anything."

"...Thanks." Luna smiled a little bit.

"And before we go, there's something I want to give ya." Kurogasa said as he took put of his pocket, three duel monster cards and gave it to Luna too.

"What is it?" Luna asked.

"Just a little something to help ya out in your duel. I found those in some card packs I bought at a card shop and I really don't need them. So they should help ya out." Luna looked at the cards her friend gave. She smiled and then shuffled it into her deck.

"Thanks." Luna grinned.

"Hey, it's what friends do. Now let's get going." Kurogasa said and then he and the girl walked out of the duelists' lounge and went on their way to the arena.

At the KaibaDome…

"WELCOME BACK LADIES AND GENTLEMEN TO THE FORTUNE CUP! MOMENTS BEFORE, WE WITNESSED KUROGASA KURURUGI DEFEAT OFFICER TETSU TRUDGE IN AN INTENSE TURBO DUEL! AND IT WAS QUICK IF I MAY ADD. BUT NOW, IT'S TIME FOR OUR FIRST GROUND DUEL!" The MC announced. "COMING TO US STRAIGHT FROM THE TOPS, OUR PRECIOUS LITTLE HALF-PINT OF WONDER, LITTLE MISS LUNA!"

Luna rose into the arena on a hydraulic platform along with Kurogasa. She was feeling a little nervous.

"Nervous?" Kurogasa asked.

"Yeah." Luna answered shyly.

"Don't worry, like I said, I'll be right next to ya, the whole time. You got this." Kurogasa said putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Right." With that encouragement, Luna was able to pull herself together.

"HOPING TO TAKE HER DOWN, THE WALL OF WALLOP, THE TOWER OF POWER, GREIGER!" Greiger appeared the same way; he was a tall South American man, with long dark brown hair and stern features. He wore a brown vest something like a plate of armor and white trousers, his skin was darkly tanned and his eyes were a dark blue, "ALRIGHT CHILDREN. PLAY NICE. NOW LET'S SHAKE THOSE HANDS!" the duelists shook.

"It's really nice to meet you Mr. Greiger." Luna said.

"Same here." Greiger said and he looked at Kurogasa. "Kurogasa, was it?"

"Yes."

"I just wanna say, that little speech you made during your turbo duel, I couldn't have said it better myself." Greiger said.

"That's what Yusei told me, but thanks. It means a lot." Kurogasa smiled and the two shook hands as well. Then they told their respective places.

"OKAY DUELISTS, ACTIVATE YOUR DUEL DISKS!" The MC announced. The two duelists participating activated them.

"DUEL!"

**Luna:** 4000

**Greiger:** 4000

"I always respect a lady, so you can go first." Grieger offered.

"Thank you. Watashi no ta-n!" Luna replied as she drew her sixth card. After choosing card amongst her hand, she gently placed it on her duel tray, "I summon Sunlight Unicorn in attack mode!" In a flash of light, a white horse with pale blue flames along its mane, tail and ankles, and a small horn upon its forehead appeared (4) (ATK: 1800/DEF: 1000).

"Next, I use its special ability to look at the top card of my deck, and if it's an Equip Spell card, I can add it to my hand." She continued as she picked up the next card and looked at it. It was revealed to be the Horn of the Unicorn spell, letting her add it to her hand, "I activate Horn of the Unicorn which increases my Unicorn's ATK and DEF by 700!" Upon Luna inserting the card, Sunlight Unicorn's horn glowed and then became larger and crystalline.

Sunlight Unicorn- (ATK: 2500/DEF: 1700)

"I end with two facedown cards." She concluded.

"A POWERFUL START FROM THE YOUNG PRODIGY!" the MC announced, "EVEN THE TOWER OF POWER WILL HAVE PROBLEMS FACING A MONSTER WITH 2500 ATK! LET'S SEE HOW HE RESPONDS…"

_'Nice start, Luna,'_ Kurogasa thought with a smile, _'Just be ready for anything he dishes out next...'_

"Impressive start, now it is my turn." Greiger praised as he drew his sixth card, immediately showing off a spell card depicting a duelist facing a Luster Dragon, who destroyed one of four stars, "I activate my Star Blast spell card, meaning I can pay installments of 500 Life Points to reduce the Level of a monster on my field or in my hand by one for each installment paid. I pay 500 Life Points to lower the Level of a monster in my hand by one." A red aura surrounded him after his announcement.

**Luna:** 4000

**Greiger:** 3500

"Next, I summon that monster, my Summon Reactor SK!" The towering duelist replied, placing the card on his disk to reveal a large, beige robot created from fighter plane parts, with propeller turbines for shoulders, eyes glowing through cockpit windows and landing gear for arms. (5-4) (ATK: 2000/DEF: 1400)

"I then place another card facedown and end my turn." Greiger concluded as he inserted a reversed card into his disk.

"NOT AS NEARLY A POWERFUL START AS MISS LUNA," the MC stated. "BUT HE MUST HAVE SOMETHING PLANNED FOR ANY EFFECT THAT MONSTER HAS, AS WELL AS THAT FACEDOWN HE'S SET…"

"Watashi no ta-n!" Luna announced as she drew her next card, "I summon out my Dreamsprite in attack mode!" In another flash of light a red-haired, blue-skinned fairy appeared fluttering on her red gossamer wings appeared (2) (ATK: 300/DEF: 200).

"Before you make another move, Summon Reactor SK's effect activates." Grieger interrupted. "Since you summoned a monster while my Reactor's out, you lose 800 life points!" And to confirm it, the Reactor's propeller turbines spun rapidly, sending twin tornadoes flying into Luna, making her cry out...

**Luna:** 3200

**Greiger:** 3500

"INCREDIBLE!" the MC exclaimed, "GREIGER'S MONSTER GETS TO ATTACK LUNA ANY TIME SHE SUMMONS A MONSTER!"

"That's not good." Kurogasa added, "A monster that's powerful, plus able to deal burn damage is a nasty combo. Luna needs to get that thing off the field now."

"Well, at least she's prevented Greiger from attacking." Tanner stated. "With Dreamsprite on the field, if he decides to attack it, Luna can redirect it another monster she controls."

"Oh, I get it." Yanagi realized. "With Sunlight Unicorn at 2500 ATK and Summon Reactor at 2000, he'll just destroy himself."

"Well, too bad Greiger won't fall for it." Dexter said.

"Duh, that's why Tanner said it'll just stop Luna from getting attacked." Leo added.

From the central tower, Goodwin and Lazar watched the entire duel from the window as it played out.

"Greiger was the right choice for this." Lazar chuckled, "His relentless attacks will bring out the true fight in that girl in no time."

Back on the field, Greiger revealed his facedown card, a trap depicting soldiers hiding in a trench, preparing to ambush a dark dragon. "And then, summoning your monster activates my Hidden Soldiers trap! This card allows me to summon a DARK monster that's level 4 or below from my hand." He then placed that monster card on the field, "Trap Reactor Y-FI, come forth in defense mode!"

On command, a dark green robot formed from a World War II fighter plane appeared in a flash of dark energy, crouching down (4) (ATK: 800/DEF: 1800).

"Another reactor!" Leo gasped from the audience.

"I bet it's in any relation to the Summon Reactor, and works out in the same way." Dexter stated.

"Sunlight Unicorn, attack Summon Reactor with Bright Horn!" Luna commanded as her unicorn charged and galloped towards the beige fighter plane. But the attack was quickly interrupted by another twin tornado from target Reactor's turbines, pushing Luna's monster back in front of her. "Huh?"

"During the turn Summon Reactor uses its effect, I can negate one of your attacks." Grieger explained, "You won't find it easy to take down.

Luna sighed and concluded with, "I end my turn."

"Here's my next move." Greiger stated as he drew...

"Before you make anymore moves, I activate my trap card, Solemn Wishes!" Luna interrupted as she revealed one of her facedown cards, depicting a woman in a purple dress, happily gazing at the sparkling rain, "Whenever I make a move involving drawing cards, I gain 500 life points."

"That won't happen!" the Reactor duelist said as she shook his head, "Due to Trap Reactor's effect, I can destroy your trap and deal another 800 points of damage towards you!" The Trap Reactor launched volley of flak bullets from the turrets on its chest, destroying Luna's trap card and then striking the duelist herself as she cried in pain again.

**Luna:** 2400

**Greiger:** 3500

_'I was... right...'_ Luna thought.

"Don't worry, Luna!" Kurogasa called out from the sidelines, "You now know what's coming! Now you can find a way to get out of this!"

_'But how?'_ the little girl thought. She then gasped at a card in her hand. _'I have to make sure the timing's right so that all the reactor's effects activates...'_

"Next, I set another card and a monster facedown." the Reactor duelist announced as a set monster and reversed card appeared on his field. "That ends my turn!"

Luna took a deep breath as she drew her next card, "I won't activate any other cards, so that my Sunlight Unicorn can attack Summon Reactor! Bright Horn!"

Again, the horned stallion charged at the large fighter plane, but still Greiger was prepared...

"I activate Shift!" He announced, revealing his facedown trap card. "This forces another card on my field to take the fall, and I'm sending your attack target to my facedown monster!" Suddenly, an unknown force caused the unicorn to change direction towards the facedown monster, revealing to be a large, goat-shaped machine that lowered its head to defend. (4) (ATK: 0/DEF: 1600) But that wasn't enough as the horn of the horse, stabbed it right between the goat horns and destroyed in an explosion... "And since you've destroyed my Vanguard, you lose another 800 points," He continued as Vanguard's explosion continued across the field, startling Luna as it passed her by.

**Luna:** 1600

**Greiger:** 3500

"Man, she can't even get a hit in!" Leo growled. "Let her attack, Greiger!"

Shaken, Luna switched her other monster's mode and inserted a card into her disk, "I switch Dreamsprite into defense mode and set one card to end my turn..." The blue skinned fairy covered her body in a vertical fetal position, staying aloft.

"Do not be discouraged." Greiger stated as he drew his next card, "I summon Spell Reactor RE in defense mode!"

Appearing in a hiss of steam, a mechanical serpentine dragon emerged, its central body coated in bulky crimson armor with two thin arms attached, the arms ending in claws. Beneath the armor hung a rack of missiles (3) (ATK: 1200/DEF: 900).

Luna gasped.

"I see you've figured it out, Miss Luna." the Reactor duelist announced, seeing the realization in his opponent's eyes. "Anything you do next turn will result in damage; meaning if you play two different cards at any time, you'll lose the duel! I end my turn with one card facedown."

The young girl started to feel nervous and scared, _'He's right... I don't think my next move will matter...'_ She then shook her head. _'No, I can't think like that... I have to go on with this move I have, because if it works, I'll be able to last long enough to win the duel...'_

_'Come on, Luna.'_ the Haos duelist thought. _'Don't back down... I know you can fight back...'_

"So Miss Luna," Grieger asked. "Will you forfeit?"

"No!" Luna shouted as she drew her next card. "I'll still go on!"

_'Finally, she's getting fired up.'_ Greiger thought and smirked. _'Get angry, kid! Show me that mark!'_

"For my first move, I'll discard one of the cards in my hand, to activate a trap card." Luna announced as she discarded a monster card into her discard slot, letting her facedown card flip over...

"Trap Reactor Y-FI, take down that trap!" the Reactor duelist announced as the green reactor opened fire on the trap card, before anyone could see it. Luna covered herself with her duel disk, to lessen the damage on her physical body.

**Luna:** 800

**Greiger:** 3500

"One more move," Greiger pointed out. "And then you're finished!"

"Not quite!" Luna said proudly, placing another card on the field. "I summon Fire Princess!" A young woman with grey hair, going down her shoulders appeared in a long, red dress and held a staff made of an old tree (4) (ATK: 1300/DEF: 1500).

The audience gasped at the sudden move. Kurogasa, for some reason… only smirked.

"WHAT IS SHE THINKING?" the MC shouted, "BY PLAYING THAT MONSTER, SUMMON REACTOR'S EFFECT KICKS IN AND TAKES THE REST OF HER LIFE POINTS!"

"Foolish mistake, kid!" Greiger shouted. "Summon Reactor, now!"

As the turbines of the reactor spun, Lazar and Goodwin frowned.

"Oh dear…" Lazar moaned in disgust, "Now how are we supposed to figure out if she's a Signer?"

"We'll just have to wait until the end of the first round." Goodwin stated.

Jack was indifferent as he prepared to watch the end of the duel. The twin tornadoes emerged from Summon Reactor and blasted Luna. Her friends and brother gasped as the winds passed her by. But once it ended… Luna was still standing! Everyone in the audience, the tower and Greiger himself shouted in a collective, "WHAT?" Even more so when they saw the score...

**Luna:** 1600

**Greiger:** 3500

"But how?" Jack shouted.

Even Greiger demanded an explanation. "You're life points shouldn't have gone up!"

"It did!" Luna countered. "And because of that, my Fire Princess's effect activates causing you to lose 500 life points of your own!"

A white aura surrounded the Princess, making a red aura burn through Greiger's points...

**Luna:** 1600

**Greiger:** 3000

"But still, your points shouldn't have raised itself!" the Reactor duelist protested.

"I'll explain after I use my Double Summon spell card." the little girl continued, showing off another spell card.

_'Whatever's going on, it can't happen twice.' _Greiger thought before he made his command. "Spell Reactor RE, destroy that spell card and take out 800 points!"Missiles shot from the rack under the Spell Reactor's body, exploding around Luna and shattering the Double Spell card before striking her with their force... But once again, Luna came out okay and healed her points, also creating another white aura around the Fire Princess, and another red aura around the Reactor duelist...

**Luna:** 2400

**Greiger:** 2500

"ALRIGHT, NOW THIS IS GETTING STRANGE!" the MC exclaimed. "HOW ARE MISS LUNA'S POINT GOING UP AND GREIGER'S POINTS GOING DOWN? AND HOW EXACTLY, IS THE TOWER OF POWER GETTING OUTSMARTED? INQUIRING MINDS, WANNA KNOW!"

"He's right." Greiger stated to Luna. "Explain how you increased your life points, without playing a single card that does it."

Luna smiled. "Actually, I did. It was the trap card your Trap Reactor Y-FI destroyed, before anyone could see what it was."

Not convinced, the Reactor duelist responded with, "Show me."

Luna then took out a trap card and revealed it to Grieger. Even the cameras had to zoom in on the card, to show it. Grieger gasped as the trap card revealed a Ra Yellow duelist creating a rainbow barrier as he's being attacked by Terrorking Archfiend and Giant Orc. "Rainbow Life!"

Luna nodded. "That's right, after it activated all damage to my life points become life points gained until the end of this turn!"

"Yeah, you go Luna!" Leo cheered.

"That's the way, Luna!" Kurogasa cheered also. "I knew my cards would help somehow! Now get ready to take it to him!"

Luna smiled and nodded before turning back to the turn, "Now I play Sunny Pixie in attack mode!" In a small light, a cute little pixie woman wearing a yellow bodysuit appeared, eyes sparkling and a bright smile graced her face (1) (ATK: 300/DEF: 400).

"Then, since I have a tuner monster on my field, I can bring out Quillbolt Hedgehog from my graveyard!"

The small, hedgehog with bolt quills appeared (2) (ATK: 800/DEF: 800).

"Where'd she get that monster," Dexter wondered.

The others shrugged except one... which Luna thanked in her thoughts...

_'Thanks, Kurogasa…'_ She thought before she made her big move, "Now, I tune my Level 1 Sunny Pixie with Level 2 Quillbolt Hedgehog and Level 4 Fire Princess!"

Sunny Pixie flew upwards, becoming a single glowing ring that descended and encircled Quillbolt Hedgehog and Fire Princess, reducing them to six glowing stars. The stars aligned within the rings and connected as golden aura that filled the Synchro Summon…

_"Ten no ue, anata no hikari to shidō o sekaijū de kagayaite! Shinkuro Shoukan! Araware o, Ancient Sacred Wyvern!" _(1)

With a large roar, a white serpentine dragon with runic markings on its back appeared, a great mane of golden hair flowing over the back of its head, its arms merged with its wings and blue eyes shimmering with power (7) (ATK: 2100/DEF: 2000).

"It was a good thing I was able to give her some help when I did." the Haos duelist said to himself. "Otherwise she would have never been able to summon it."

_'Hmm, I never expected her ultimate Synchro Monster to be another fairy monster.'_ Greiger thought, _'I suspected a dragon, like Goodwin's reports stated.'_

"When Sunny Pixie's used for a LIGHT Synchro Monster, I gain 1000 life points!" Luna announced as she glowed with golden light.

**Luna:** 3400

**Greiger:** 2500

"Then, when my life points are higher, Ancient Sacred Wyvern's effect allows it to gain ATK equal to the difference between our life points!" She continued as her Synchro Monster was bathed in the same golden light.

Ancient Sacred Wyvern- (ATK: 3000/DEF: 2000)

"Finally, I switch Dreamsprite to attack mode and have it attack Trap Reactor!" Luna called out as the sprite charged in...

"Summon Reactor, negate the attack!" Greiger countered as the monster in question, used its turbines to create more tornadoes to push Dreamsprite back.

"I don't get it." Yanagi wondered. "Why would he negate that monster's attack?"

"Because Rainbow Life is still in effect." Dexter stated, "If he let that attack hit, Luna would gain 1500 life points from it... Meaning Ancient Sacred Wyvern would gain 1500 more ATK points, giving her enough points to win the duel later."

"Still, she got this in the bag!" Leo grinned.

"Ancient Sacred Wyvern, attack Summon Reactor with Sacred Light Breath!" Luna commanded as her fairy dragon fired a breath of golden flames, destroying the large Reactor.

**Luna:** 3400

**Greiger:** 1500

And because of that, the wyvern gained more power.

Ancient Sacred Wyvern- (ATK: 3500/DEF: 2000)

"Next, I use my facedown card Windstorm of Etaqua!" She continued, revealing a trap card depicting a black crow, braving a harsh windstorm, "Now, I can change the battle positions of your monsters!"

Suddenly, a massive windstorm blew across the field, forcing Spell Reactor and Trap Reactor to fly in the air.

"Now, Sunlight Unicorn attack Trap Reactor!" Luna declared as her unicorn charged at the weak fighter plane.

"If this connects, she'll win the duel!" Tanner realized. "This attack will deal 1700 points of battle damage, more than enough!"

"Go Luna!" Leo cheered. Once the Unicorn reached the Trap Reactor with its horn, a huge explosion was created, covering Greiger's entire field.

"Did I win?" Luna wondered.

A minute later, the smoke cleared showing Grieger in place, unscathed of any damage. Especially since it never took out his life points!

"I truly commend your impressive dueling, staring into the face of your opponent and outsmarting me." The Reactor duelist stated. "You have a warrior's spirit for one so young and frail, by appearance."

"Thank you, but why aren't you damaged?" Luna wondered.

"It's because I activated my Trap card, the Sakuretsu Armor." Greiger replied as the smoke cleared up more showing a trap card in question and that the Trap Reactor was now covered in spiky armor, "I've destroyed your Sunlight Unicorn as it hit my Reactor."

"Okay, but Horn of the Unicorn goes back to the top of my deck as soon as it's destroyed." the little girl stated as she retrieved the spell card in question, and placed it on top of her deck. "Then, I place one card facedown to end my turn."

"Alright, it's my move." Greiger stated as he drew his next card, "I now activate the spell, Card of Demise! This lets me draw, until I'm holding five cards in my hand, but then in five of my own standby phases, I discard my entire hand." The giant man drew out his five cards and looked them over, and inserted one on his field, "I activate Monster Reborn to re-summon Summon Reactor SK!"

As the angelic ankh appeared in the sky, it disappeared into a blinding light that brought back the beige fighter plane robot. "Next, I activate its final effect!" He announced, "I send all three of my reactors to the graveyard, to special summon a monster that will end this duel!"

The three reactors lined up in the skies and then formed a light pillar from the ground to the heavens.

"I summon... Flying Fortress SKYFIRE!"

Emerging from the light, a towering, dark green robot appeared made up of the three reactors, giving it the appearance of a fortress with legs. Its arms were just like the Spell Reactor's, except larger, its wings were folded to its sides and numerous turrets covered its body. The machine's crimson eyes glowed, ablaze as they stared at Luna, SKY FIRE giving a mechanical roar (8) (ATK: 3000/DEF: 2500).

"AN IMPRESSIVE MONSTER!" the MC exclaimed. "BUT CAN THIS MONSTER STOP LUNA'S POWERFUL SYNCHRO MONSTER? IT MUST HAVE ONE HECK OF A SPECIAL ABILITY TO RISK IT ALL AGAINST A 3500 ATK MONSTER!"

"And I do." Greiger shouted, "By discarding one card from my hand, like my Nobleman of Crossout, I can destroy any card on Luna's field!"

He then slotted the card into his graveyard and panels opened across Flying Fortress SKY FIRE's body; a hail of missiles shooting from the hatches and exploding against Ancient Sacred Wyvern, shattering it instantly, causing Luna to gasp in horror.

_'Now my facedown card can't help me.' _she thought.

"This is the end, I activate my spell card Rush Recklessly to boost the power of my Fortress by 700 points," Greiger announced as a green aura surrounded SKYFIRE.

Flying Fortress, SKY FIRE- (ATK: 3700/DEF: 2500)

"Now attack Dreamsprite and this duel!" Kurogasa gasped as the Flying Fortress unleashed a volley of flak and tracer fire at the small sprite, destroying it instantly and caused an explosion that sent Luna flying backwards...

_"Luna… Luna… you have to help me… you promised…"_

"Ancient… Fairy… Dragon…?" she breathed. Suddenly, a faint crimson glow became visible on her arm, her Mark of the Dragon, which was shaped like a dragon's claw. Before she hit the ground, Kurogasa caught her as her life points depleted down to 0.

**Luna:** 0

**Greiger:** 1500

"IT'S OVER!" the MC shouted, "GREIGER WILL BE ADVANCING TO THE SEMI-FINALS, JOINING KUROGASA IN THE LINE-UP FOR THE FORTUNE CUP CHAMPION!"

Meanwhile, in the central tower, a screen appeared and a man with a large shock of brown hair in a style resembling the blade of an axe and long bangs and wears amber-tinted glasses appeared.

"Yes? What is it Zigzix?" Goodwin asked.

"I've just got an energy reading from the D-Tector! Our little Miss Luna is a Signer!" He said being overenthusiastic and spinning around in a wild gesticulation manner while doing so. Goodwin nodded in acknowledgement and turned off the screen.

"He needs to get out more." Lazar groaned in annoyance. "That aside, we are now certain that Luna is a Signer." He chuckled.

"Indeed." Goodwin smiled in a somewhat… evil way.

Meanwhile, back at the stadium…

"Luna! Luna! Are you okay? Wake up! Luna!" Kurogasa shaking her gently trying to wake her up, but she isn't responding. Greiger, noticing this, ran over to them.

"Is she alright?" Greiger asked with concern.

"I don't know. She's not waking up. C'mon on, Luna! Wake up! LUNA!" But then Kurogasa noticed her Signer mark was glowing. His eyes widen when he saw this. "No way… Luna is a Signer?" He asked himself in disbelief.

In Luna's mind…

Luna was floating in the darkness. She couldn't see anything.

_"Luna… Luna… Can you hear my voice Luna?" _A gentle voice asked.

"Who's… there?" Luna asked.

_"Luna, my dear, the time has come. It is time that you remember your promise."_

"What… promise?"

Just then, a light shined in the darkness. It grew brighter and brighter until Luna was blinded by the light. When it faded, she was standing in a completely different place. She was in the Ancient Forest. "Where am I?" She asked herself, she then starting walking for a while. As Luna progressed through, she can see the trees starting to wither away, until nothing was left on the bare branches. The skies were also clouded in darkness. She continued to walk until she stopped at a large barren clearing, the only landmark being a giant mountain. She began looking around. "...Hello?"

_"I'm here Luna."_ the voice sounded very closer to Luna. In fact, the voice came from a giant crag, which embedded a skeleton of a dragon of some sort. _"I am sealed away in this granite prison. I've been waiting for your return."_

"Who are you?" Luna took a closer look at the fossil. "That dragon..." She muttered. That one look at that crag was all it took to trigger something in Luna's mind. "Hang on a sec! That dragon looks familiar!" she exclaimed. "It's you! It's... Ancient Fairy Dragon!"

_"We meet again!"_ the dragon's voice greeted, _"It's been a long time since you last came here. Luna, you need to remember your promise. Allow me to take you back to when you first came here, to help you remember it."_

_The background then changed to a serene meadow, with various flowers blooming from the grass. It was there where Luna saw a three-year-old version of herself, along with other of her spirit friends. One in particular was a humanoid serpentine dragon with sky-blue scales. Her golden armor held snug on her chest and crowned on her head. And she had the most beautiful orange eyes which reflected the illusionist sunlight._

_"Almost done..." little Luna was putting the finishing touches on a crown she was making out of flowers. When she was finished, she placed it on top of her Kuribon. Who cooed with happiness, but a few moments later, the crown withered away. "That's weird. The flowers, they wilted..."_

_"The spirit world is in danger; Luna." the blue dragon replied. "An evil force is trying to gain access to this place, to take over, with sinister intent; this force reaches out to squeeze the heart of our beloved land. As the darkness grows in strength, the light of the spirit world begins to fade. And the beauty of this realm will be replaced by sorrow and despair."_

_"Can't you stop it?" the three-year-old asked._

_"You are a Spirit Caller, dear Luna. You are the bridge that connects your world with ours. Stay with us, Luna. Protect us, and in return, we can help you. We feel your sadness, my child. We know that you are lonely. You are lonely, aren't you?"_

_Luna had no idea the dragon knew. She really was alone. "Kinda, my mom and dad are always away, on important business trips and stuff like that, and I don't go to school with other kids." but the last thing she said made her want to tear up. "…and my silly egghead brother only thinks about himself! ...Okay, Ancient Fairy Dragon! I will stay here and protect you! I'll protect everyone!"_

_The fairy dragon hasn't been happier to hear that, "Thank you, Luna! And I will make sure that you will never feel lonely again!" her sparkling butterfly wings making a heavenly chime each time they move, the dragon glided towards the little girl, and covered her and the other fairies in a sparkling light. That was the day the promise was made..._

"I remember now..." Luna grasping the lost memory. "I came here several years ago. And I made a promise. I said that I would protect you. But then I heard Leo's voice shouting my name and... And I ran as fast as I could. I said that my brother has been calling out to me, but I think I've been calling out to him, somehow. I was scared. I was afraid I couldn't protect you by myself, so I just ran. After that, I tried so hard to forget about you, I blocked you all out and then I… I-" Luna was starting to tear up as she fell on her hands and knees realizing what she had done. She had abandoned them.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" Luna sobbed as tears streamed from her face and dropping to the ground.

_"Please Luna, do not cry." _The dragon said in a motherly voice. _"It's okay to be scared. I do not blame you for being afraid of the evil that threatens our land. But we really need you Luna. You are this world's only hope. You need to stay strong and have courage. Do not forget that you are never alone."_ Luna's eyes widened when she said that. She was right; she was never was alone. She still has friends she has now. Yusei, Kurogasa, Tanner, Yanagi, Dexter, her brother Leo. Not to mention, that she still has the duel monster spirits as well.

_"_You're right… I'm never alone. I have Yusei, Kurogasa, and the others." Luna said getting up and wiping her tears. "And… from now on… I won't let you down and abandon you, Ancient Fairy Dragon. I will fight to protect the spirit world with all my friends." The dragon couldn't be happier.

_"Thank you Luna. And we, the spirits, won't let you down and abandon you either." _The dragon said and then a light shined from the rock and then grew brighter and brighter until everything was engulfed in light.

Back in reality…

Luna slowly opened her eyes and the first thing she saw were Kurogasa and Greiger's face.

"Luna!" Kurogasa exclaimed.

"Are you okay?" Greiger asked.

"I'm fine." Luna said as she got back up from Kurogasa's arms.

"Sorry about that. I must've hit ya on the head a little too hard. I shouldn't do that a young lady like you." Greiger apologized.

"It's alright." Luna said.

"That aside, I had a great time dueling you." Greiger smiled. Not showing his teeth, of course.

"So did I." Luna smiled as well and the two of them shook hands. The three of them then heard the entire audience holler and cheer for Luna's and Greiger's performance. Luna just simply waved happily towards the crowd.

There you have it folks! Remember, the duel itself, is solely created by The Duelist of Dawn, so give your compliments to him not me. Well, you could compliment me saying that it's a good chapter, but seriously, the credit should go to The Duelist of Dawn for the duel.

(1)- Heavens above, shine your light and guidance around the world! Synchro Summon! Appear now, Ancient Sacred Wyvern!


	21. Chapter 19: Parade of the Undead

It's now time for our second Turbo Duel of this story! This duel is another duel created by The Duelist of Dawn. So, give your compliments to him.

Disclaimer: Same thing.

Chapter 19: Parade of the Undead

We last left with the first ground duel between Greiger and Luna. Although it was a valiant effort, Luna was defeated the Reactor Duelist, Greiger. But on the plus side, it was a really good duel that the two performed for the audience. Kurogasa was walking with Luna on their way to the stands.

"That was a really good duel Luna. You had the crowd going for a while. Plus, you overcame you fear of dueling in front of people." Kurogasa praised.

"Yeah. I'm just glad it's over with." Luna sighed with relief. A couple minutes later, they arrived near one of the entrance of the stands where Leo and the others are. "I can go on from here."

"Alright then. I'm gonna go meet up with Yusei. Later!" Kurogasa said and then the two of them went their separate ways. Several minutes later, Kurogasa had arrived at the garage of the stadium. He had just in time, because Yusei was just about to leave for his turbo duel.

"Hey Yusei!" Kurogasa called running over to him and his runner.

"Hey Kurogasa, you came to see me off?" Yusei asked.

"Yeah. I just dropped off Luna over at the stands so she can stay with Leo and the others." Kurogasa said.

_"ATTENTION, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THE SECOND TURBO DUEL IS ABOUOT TO GET UNDERWAY!"_ The MC announced from the speakers that were on the ceiling.

"Uh-oh. You better get going. Your duel is about to start. Don't wanna be late for that." Kurogasa said.

"Yep." Yusei replied putting on his helmet and then revved up the engine. "Wish me luck." He said giving him a thumbs up. Kurogasa did the same. And soon after, Yusei sped off from the garage. Kurogasa then walked over to the duelist lounge.

"WE ARE BACK LADIES AND GENTLEMEN FOR THE SECOND TURBO DUEL OF THE FORTUNE CUP! ENTERING FIRST, HE'S THE SPUNKY PUNK TRYING TO GET FROM THIRD TO FIRST CLASS; HE'S THE LITTLE SATELLITE WHO COULD… I GIVE YOU, YUSEI FUDO!" A plume of smoke exploded from one of the tunnels leading onto the track and Yusei's crimson Duel Runner raced from it, completing a lap of the track before taking his starting position.

"Get out of here Satellite scum!" One spectator shouted.

"No one wants to see you!" Another yelled.

Back at the lounge…

Kurogasa was watching on the screen when Yusei entered and all he heard were jeers from the crowd.

"Great. I guess that little speech I made during my turbo duel was a waste." Kurogasa sighed.

At the stadium…

"AND HIS OPPONENT, THE ALWAYS-MYSTERIOUS SHADOW REAPER, SHIRA!" A plume of smoke exploded from the tunnel as well and a black chopper style motorcycle came out, his disk was pitch-black as well. He did a lap of track just like Yusei did before getting into his starting position. The crowd was cheering for Shira.

"Hope you're ready to lose." Shira taunted.

"Not a chance." Yusei replied.

"GENTLEMEN, START YOUR ENGINES!" The MC yelled.

"FI-RUDO MAHO! SUPIDO WARUDO! SETTO ON!" Both turbo duelists yelled as they revved up their engines and both pressed a button on their runners.

**"DUEL MODE. AUTOPILOT ON. STANDBY."**

The words 'DUEL MODE' appeared on both screens and the screens then showed the playing field and their speed counters. A purple aura shot out of both duel runners. "ALL RIGHT PEOPLE! THEY ACTIVATED SPEED WORLD MEANING THAT THE ONLY SPELLS THEY CAN PLAY ARE SPEED SPELLS! FIRST ONE TO TURN THE CORNER GETS THE FIRST TURN!"

"RIDING DUEL, ACCELERATION!"

Both duelists then raced off from their starting position. At first Yusei and Shira were both neck and neck but Shira was the faster one and turned the first corner. Both duelists drew their hand and put their cards on the wrist dealer.

**Yusei:** 4000/**SPC:** 0

**Shira:** 4000/**SPC:** 0

"Seems I'm the faster one today. Ore no sentou!" Shira stated as he drew his sixth card. "I start with Ittan Momen in attack mode!"Through a blue portal opening by the cloaked duelist, a flying-cloth like monster with appeared with white cloths severing as its limbs (4) (ATK: 1200/ DEF: 1500).

"I'll end my turn with one card facedown." He concluded as a facedown card appeared next to the D-Wheel before it vanished...

"Oh great, Yokai monsters…" Dexter moaned.

"What's wrong with them?" Luna asked.

"It's Shira's trademark." Tanner stated. "Most of his monsters work by being in the graveyard first. And if you summon them there, they can change the tide of the duel really quick."

Leo gulped. "You mean... Yusei's dealing with ghosts!"

"I'm up then. Ore no ta-n!" Yusei said as he drew his sixth card...

**Yusei's SPC:** 1

**Shira's SPC:** 1

"I summon Speed Warrior!" Another blue portal emerged next to Yusei, bringing out his grey armored warrior, skating next to him (2) (ATK: 900/DEF: 400).

"LOOKS LIKE YUSEI'S NOT GONNA WASTE ANY TIME GETTING ON THE OFFENSIVE!" The MC announced, "SPEED WARRIOR'S ATK POINTS DOUBLE DURING THE BATTLE PHASE IT FIRST APPEARS!" True to the MC's words, a blue aura amplified Speed Warrior's power.

Speed Warrior - (2) (ATK: 1800/DEF: 400)

"Speed Warrior, attack him with Hyper Sonic Slash!" Speed rushed towards his undead target, delivering a swift roundhouse kick to the face, shattering it.

**Yusei:** 4000/**SPC:** 1

**Shira:** 3400/**SPC:** 1

Then Speed Warrior's power reduced back to normal.

Shira chuckled darkly. "When Ittan Momen's destroyed, I choose one monster my opponent has and it loses 500 ATK!" Yusei gasped as the spirit of Ittan Momen returned and wrapped itself around Speed Warrior, weakening him while he tried to shake it off.

Speed Warrior- (ATK: 400/DEF: 400)

"Oh no, as if Speed Warrior didn't have enough of a setback already." Kurogasa muttered, "He better defend it quick..."

"I'll then play two facedown cards of my own to end my turn." Yusei concluded as two facedown cards appeared on both sides of his D-Wheel before vanishing.

"THE FIRST ROUND'S OVER, BUT YUSEI'S BACLED INTO A CORNER DESPITE SCORING THE FIRST HIT!" MC stated.

"Ore no ta-n!" Shira said as he drew.

**Yusei's SPC**: 2

**Shira's SPC:** 2

"I play the Speed Spell – Angel Baton!" He announced as a spell card appeared, showing blonde angel holding a blue jewel. "This lets me draw another two cards from my deck, but I have to send 1 of the cards in my hand to the graveyard." He then complied with its effects, drawing two cards and then discarded 1 from his overall hand.

"Now, I summon Crow Tengu in attack mode!" He continued as a dark portal opened up, letting a humanoid crow appear, holding a goblin fan. (4) (ATK: 1400/DEF: 1200) "Attack Speed Warrior with your Goblin Fan Strike!" The Yokai crow let out a howling shriek as it stormed towards the bound skater...

"Not now, Shira!" Yusei shouted as he revealed one of his facedown cards, "I activate Scrap-Iron Scarecrow!" On cue, the scarecrow made of scrap metal appeared in front of Speed Warrior, taking the hit from the fan before it disappeared.

"I'm afraid your attack has been negated, plus I get to reset afterwards." the Satellite smiled.

"That was close…" Luna sighed in relief. "It would've taken a speed counter away from him."

"And it was lucky that Shira only had one monster to strike with." Leo added.

"I suppose you live another turn." Shira scoffed as he inserted another facedown card into his D-Wheel, "Now go..."

"I will... Ore no ta-n!" Yusei countered as he drew his card.

**Yusei's SPC:** 3

**Shira's SPC:** 3

"I switch Speed Warrior to defense mode and summon Sonic Chick in defense mode to end my turn."

As Speed Warrior turned dark blue, a small pink chick with green running shoes appeared and ran right next to him, turning dark blue as well. (1) (ATK: 300/DEF: 300)

"THAT WAS QUICK." MC stated, "DOES THIS MEAN YUSEI DOESN'T HAVE A STRAGETY LEFT?"

"C'mon, this duel is getting boring already!" A spectator shouted.

"Why don't you do yourself favor already and lose Satellite!"

"Nothing in you, Yusei?" Shira asked as he drew.

**Yusei's SPC:** 4

**Shira's SPC:** 4

"Then, allow me to relieve you of your monsters now. I summon Gozuki in attack mode!" With a growl, a hulking, muscular demon with a bull's head, holding a huge hammer, appeared next to Shira. (4) (ATK: 1700/DEF: 800)

"Once every turn, I can send a zombie type monster from my deck into the graveyard." He continued as his deck shuffled up and spat out a card, letting the Yokai duelist take and inserts it into his graveyard, "But now, I use the effect of Mezuki in my graveyard, which I sent with Angel Baton's effect. I remove it from the graveyard and then summon Ittan Momen!"

As Shira removed the mentioned monster, the cloth like monster reappeared next to him. Yusei's friends gasped.

"But don't worry about Ittan Momen and Crow Tengu, because they are going right into the graveyard so I can summon from the dead, the Nine-Tailed Fox!" Everyone in the Kaiba Dome gasped as the two Yokai Monsters in question burst into flames, and then brought out a vicious looking white fox with nine, long, sharp tails, poised to strike. Its eyes burned red as it raced next to Shira. (6) (ATK: 2200/DEF: 2000)

"It's the Nine-Tailed Fox!" Yanagi shrieked as he jumped out of his seat and clung onto Tanner.

"Will you get off of me!" the former Facility resident shouted as he forced the old man off.

"Sorry, but I heard an old legend about it." Yanagi stated. "It has a deadly curse within its tails."

"You mean special effects?" Dexter asked.

"Exactly!"

"But before I make my attack, I activate another Speed Spell, Explosion!" Shira continued, as a spell card appeared, depicting Shining Friendship and Key Maces 1 and 2 being flung into the air by an explosion, "Since I have at least two Speed Counters, I can destroy one of my facedown cards and switch the battle mode of your Sonic Chick!" Yusei gasped as Shira's one of facedown card became visible and then floated right under Sonic Chick. Suddenly, a big explosion destroyed the facedown card, sending Sonic Chick flying into the air, before it came back down... turning back to its normal pink color.

"No!"

"Yes!" Shira shouted as Gozuki raised his hammer, "Gozuki, destroy Sonic Chick!"

"I activate Scrap-Iron Scarecrow to negate your attack again!" Yusei quickly announced bringing back the scarecrow that took the hammer by the head, before vanishing.

"But you can't use it twice in one turn." the Yokai duelist continued, "Nine-Tailed Fox, attack Speed Warrior! And since it was summoned via its effect, it can deal piercing damage as well!"

"Oh no!" Leo and Luna cried as the Nine-Tailed Fox snarled as rushed towards the unsuspected Speed Warrior and pounced on him, shattering him to pixels.

"I activate my second facedown, Defense Draw!" Yusei countered as a green energy dome appeared around his D-Wheel, blocking the excess damage. "You may have destroyed my monster, but the damage to me becomes 0! Plus, I get another card." He announced as he drew.

"WHAT A MOVE!" the MC exclaimed. "YUSEI SAVES HIS LIFE POINTS FROM TAKING A HIT YET AGAIN!"

"C'mon, get damaged already!" One person from the audience yelled.

"Lucky bastard!" Another said angrily.

In the lounge area, Kurogasa sat back in the couch, sighing...

"We get it already." Kurogasa moaned. "You people don't like us... Man, now I'm certain my little speech was a waste of time."

"That makes two of us." A voice said from behind the Haos duelist. He turned around to see Grieger standing right behind him.

"Grieger." Kurogasa acknowledged.

"I can see Yusei through his moves." the Reactor duelist said. "He's not a bad person... like you with your moves, although you try to prove yourself more."

"I'm no different than anyone else in the world." the Haos duelist shrugged.

"Exactly." Greiger nodded.

Back on the track, Shira growled as announced...

"I end my turn."

"Ore no ta-n!" Yusei drew.

"SO FAR, YUSEI'S ONLY LOST ONE MONSTER BUT RECEIVED NO DAMAGE WITH HIS MOVES!" the MC announced, "MEANWHILE, SHIRA'S LOST 600 POINTS. AND WITH THE SPEED COUNTERS SET AT 5 EACH..."

**Yusei's SPC: **5

**Shira's SPC:** 5

"THINGS ARE ABOUT TO HEAT UP HERE IN THE KAIBA DOME WITH THE SATELLITE DUELIST'S NEXT MOVE!"

"I summon out Junk Synchron!" Yusei announced as he brought out one of his favorite tuners. (3) (ATK: 1300/DEF: 500) "And with him, I can summon Speed Warrior back from the graveyard, because its level 2!" With a wave of his hand, the Synchron monster created another portal to return Speed Warrior back from the dead. "I now tune Level 3 Junk Synchron and Level 2 Speed Warrior!" Junk Synchron revved up the motor on his back, glowed orange then turned into 3 green rings, descending onto Speed Warrior, turning him into 2 stars of light. The stars lined up in the tunnel of rings.

_"Tsudoishi hoshi ga, aratana chikara o yobiokusu! Hikari sasu michi to nare!" Shinkuro Shoukan! Ideyo, Jyanku Woria!"_

The light erupted from the rings and brought out the signature purple-armored warrior, striking a fighting pose. (5) (ATK: 2300/DEF: 1300)

"About time he did some Synchro Summoning." Kurogasa smirked.

"Pay attention, Shira." Yusei called out, "When Junk Warrior's Synchro Summoned, it gains the ATK of level 2 or below monsters! And with Sonic Chick, that's an extra 300 ATK!"

Junk Warrior glowed with energy as Sonic Chick dashed right next to him.

Junk Warrior- (ATK: 2600/DEF: 1300)

"Curses..." Shira muttered.

"Now Junk Warrior attacks your Nine-Tailed Fox!" the Satellite shouted, "Go, Scrap Fist!"

Junk Warrior's thrusters ignited and he charged, smashing his fist into the fox, shattering it to pieces. The Yokai duelist groaned in pain as the attack struck him.

**Yusei:** 4000/**SPC:** 5

**Shira:** 3000/**SPC:** 5

"Alright, two for two." Tanner grinned. "If this keeps up, Yusei's will win this in a landslide... all he has to do is keep his defenses strong and make his attacks stronger!"

"Go Yusei!" Leo cheered.

"Impressive move, but when Nine-Tailed Fox is destroyed, I can summon two Fox Tokens to the field." Shira announced as the pixilated remains of the fox, grouped up into two piles, creating two smaller foxes, but with only one tail each. (2) (ATK: 0/DEF: 0) x2

_'If he's doing what I think he's doing, I have to be ready.'_ Yusei thought as he inserted another card into his disk. "I end my turn with another facedown and switch my Sonic Chick to defense mode."

"Ore no ta-n!" Shira drew.

**Yusei's SPC:** 6

**Shira's SPC:** 6

"Time for the undead to rise!" Shira announced as he placed a monster card onto his Wheel. "I summon my own tuner monster, Plaguespreader Zombie!"

Rising from the track, with an undead moan, a small zombie appeared that looked to be made up of the limbs of other monsters. (2) (ATK: 400/DEF: 200) Needless to say, most people nearly gagged at the sight.

"I think I'm gonna be sick…" Tanner said.

"Me too…" Leo said.

"Me three..." Luna added, covering her mouth.

In the lounge, Kurogasa was looking at that monster with the same look as everyone else.

"What is this guy's deal?" he wondered, fighting to urge not to hurl.

"He's about to bring out his own Synchro Monsters." Greiger replied. "Prepare to see how lethal Shira can be."

"Now I tune Level 2 Plaguespreader Zombie with the Level 2 Fox Tokens!" Shira announced as his tuner zombie exploded into two green rings, surrounding the Fox Tokens and transforming them into 4 stars, as they all shined brightly...

_"Akuma wa, taoreta akuma no okiniiri no musuko ga futatabi ikirudeshou. Shinkuro Shoukan! Ribaibu, Andetto Sukaru Dēmon!" _(1)

From a dark mist, a monster similar to the Summoned Skull appeared. Except that everything about was darker, and the flesh was rotting of its bones. (6) (ATK: 2500/DEF: 1200)

"Next, I activate my trap card," the zombie duelist grinned as his facedown card revealed itself, depicting a cave with hundreds of demons glaring. "Night Parade of One Hundred Demons!"

Tanner gasped. "Yusei's in trouble now! That card revives all sorts of zombie monsters from the graveyard! And he has three monster zones left!"

"Then that means, Yusei's going to be outnumbered 5-to-2!" Dexter shouted.

"Now zombies, rise up to the field!" Shira shouted. In three dark flashes, Crow Tengu, Plaguespreader Zombie and Ittan Momen reappeared.

"Okay." Kurogasa stated. "I don't see what the big deal is..."

"Continue watching." Greiger advised. "It'll all become clear..."

"Nice try, but throwing more monsters on the field will not intimidate me." Yusei stated. "Even if you brought a tuner monster out, if it's not stronger than Junk Warrior, it's just a waste of time!"

"Right, but when Crow Tengu's special summoned from the graveyard, I can destroy a monster on your field." Shira grinned, "And so, I can take down your Junk Warrior to shut your mouth, Satellite!" Yusei gasped and the crowd, minus his friends, cheered as Crow Tengu's eyes glowed and shattered Junk Warrior into nothing.

"Now the field's clear for another tuning." the zombie duelist continued as once again, the zombie repeated the tuning process with the crow zombie, as the two green rings and four stars lit up.

_"Akuma no ō wa, geraku shite iru ima, kare wa atarashii ōi o torimasu. Shinkuro Shoukan! Tate, Yomigaerishi Maō Ha Desu!" _(2)

In another cloud of dark mist, Dark Ruler Ha Des appeared but in just the same stated as Archfiend Zombie-Skull; flesh coming off the bone, but with its dark robes in shambles as well. (6) (ATK: 2450/DEF: 0)

"Another one?" Yusei wondered.

"That's right, and I'll even continue the onslaught." the zombie duelist continued, "I use Mezuki's effect from the graveyard, I remove it to summon Crow Tengu again!"

A spirit of a demon similar to Gozuki appeared, except that it had the head and feet of a horse and carried a giant axe. It opened up a portal, releasing the crow yokai once again.

"It's back!" the kids cried out.

"And this time, I'll use his effect to destroy Sonic Chick!" Shira called out as Crow Tengu's eyes glowed red again, shattering the running chick into pixels again.

"UNBELIVEABLE!" the MC shouted! "IN ONE MOVE, SHIRA HAS DESTROYED YUSEI'S TWO MONSTER ARMY AND SUMMONED FIVE OF HIS OWN! WILL THIS BE YUSEI'S FINAL LAP?"

In the lounge room...

Kurogasa stared at the screen with an open mouth gaping.

"I told you." Greiger stated. "Shira is dangerous, if Yusei doesn't get out of this, then he's doomed."

_'I hope you got something else other than Scrap-Iron Scarecrow, Yusei…'_ the Haos duelist thought worriedly. _'You still got your score to settle with Jack!'_

In fact, Jack was thinking along the same lines...

_'You better not lose.'_ the king threatened in his mind. _'I'm supposed to be the only one to defeat you!'_

"Say good-bye! Shira shouted, "Now my king, attack Yusei directly!"

Revived King Ha Des charged at the helpless Turbo Duelist, cackling all the way...

"I'm not through yet!" Yusei called out as he activated his trap card. It depicted the spirit of Junk Warrior fighting with Junk Synchron and White Magician Pikeru, "I activate Synchro Spirits! By removing a synchro-monster in my graveyard from play, I can re-summon the monsters that were originally used to summon it! So I'm taking Junk Warrior out of the duel!" Yusei removed the card from his graveyard and pocketed it, "Now Junk Synchron and Speed Warrior can return to the field in defense mode!"

In two blue portals, Junk Synchron and Speed Warrior came onto the field, just in time. Then, Junk Synchron took it upon himself to dive right into the line of fire, and gave himself up to Ha Des' attack.

"So... close..." Yanagi gasped. Everyone else agreed with firm nods.

Kurogasa in the lounge room, also gave a big sigh of relief.

"Talk about cutting it close, Yusei..." He muttered.

On the track...

"So you save yourself with two monsters." Shira growled, "Ittan Momen, relieve him of his Speed Warrior!"

The cloth demon floated across the track and wrapped itself around the speeding warrior, squeezing the life out of him...

"Now you're without monsters again, meaning Crow Tengu can attack directly!"

The crow demon charged at high speed and knocked the back of Yusei's D-Wheel, making it spin out before he could steady himself.

**Yusei:** 2600/**SPC:** 5

**Shira:** 3000/**SPC:** 6

"OOOOH!" the MC shouted, "YUSEI FINALLY TAKES A HIT! AND WITH TWO ATTACKS LEFT, IT MAY BE ALL HE WROTE!"

"Now Archfiend Zombie-Skull, attack directly with Dark Lightning Strike!" Shira continued as the zombie Summoned Skull charged up black lightning in its claws and threw it at Yusei...

"Did you forget this?" the Satellite stated. "My Scrap-Iron Scarecrow!" Once again, the scarecrow emerged and saved Yusei from another dangerous hit before it was set back down.

"Gozuki, attack directly!" the zombie duelist shouted as the beast jumped into the air, and slammed Yusei with its hammer, causing him to spin out again and let Shira pass him by...

**Yusei:** 900/**SPC:** 4

**Shira:** 3000/**SPC:** 6

"That's my turn." Shira concluded, "And it also means Ittan Momen goes to the graveyard, due to the effect of my trap card." Ittan Momen dove into the track ground, leaving the duel.

"AFTER THAT LAST ATTACK, YUSEI'S UP THE CREEK WITHOUT A PADDLE!" the MC stated, "WITH ONLY 900 POINTS LEFT, CAN HE PULL OUT A VICTORY?"

"His mark should appear soon." Lazar cackled. "With those overwhelming odds stacked against Yusei, he has to be angry!"

"And if it doesn't, there's always next duel." Goodwin stated.

'_Alright. It all comes to down to this. If I don't draw, then I'll never be able to settle the score with Jack.'_ Yusei thought. "Ore no… ta-n!" Yusei called out, taking out the next card with faith...

**Yusei's SPC:** 5

**Shira's SPC:** 7

"I start with the Speed Spell – Synchro Return!" the Satellite shouted as he inserted the card. "And as long as I have 5 or more speed counters, I can use this spell to summon a synchro-monster that I removed from play earlier in the duel. So hello again to Junk Warrior!" Junk Warrior returned with striking pose.

"Him again." Shira scoffed. "Well, it's a threat to Gozuki and Crow Tengu, but my other Zombies can wipe him out. And on my next turn, I can summon back my Plaguespreader Zombie and another monster to play, Your Scrap-Iron Scarecrow can't save you again."

"No but this will, I summon out my Nitro Synchron to join my Junk Warrior," Yusei countered as a small nitro tank appeared by his side, floating. (2) (ATK: 300/DEF: 100)"Next, I'll tune Level 2 Nitro Synchron with Level 5 Junk Warrior!" The gauge valve on Nitro Synchron's head went critical mass and transformed into two green rings that surrounded Junk Warrior, transforming him into five stars...

_"Tsudoishi omoi ga, kokoni aratana chikara tonaru! Hikari sasu michi tonare! Shinkuro Shoukan! Moeagare, Nitoro Woriā!" _(3)

From the gates of Synchro Summon, a large, bulked-up warrior, having a pair of bull horns on its head, and also a booster rocket on its back end...(7) (ATK: 2800/DEF: 1800)

Seeing that monster, Shira groaned a bit... "Okay, now all of my monsters could be destroyed..."

"That's right, but first since Nitro Synchron was used for the Synchro Summon of a 'Nitro' monster, I can draw another card." Yusei continued as he drew another card, looked at it and immediately played it, "This is the end for you, Shira. I use the speed spell – Sliver Contrails! Since I have at least 5 Speed Counters, I can boost the power of my Nitro Warrior by 1000!"

A gust of wind surrounded the giant warrior, making it roar out in triumph.

Nitro Warrior- (ATK: 3800/DEF: 1800)

"Now attack Crow Tengu with Dynamite Knuckle!" He commanded as the warrior's rocket ignited and dove right towards the bird zombie. "And also, when he attacks during the turn I use a spell card, Nitro Warrior gains 1000 ATK on the attack!"

Shira gasped as the power of Nitro Warrior increased even more.

Nitro Warrior- (ATK: 4800/DEF: 1800)

"Take him down!"

The warrior's fist ignited into flames and then drove it straight into the body of Crow Tengu, burning it to a crisp, leaving no remains.

**Yusei:** 900/**SPC:** 5

**Shira:** 0/**SPC:** 3

A big red X appeared on Shira's screen and then smoke came out of the runner. Shira started to lose control of his ride and spun around uncontrollably, but then a few seconds later, he stopped and thankfully, he wasn't sent flying out.

"WE HAVE A WINNER! THE WINNER OF THIS SECOND TURBO DUEL IS YUSEI FUDO!" The MC announced. There was a mix of boos and cheers in the audience. Yusei stopped his runner, took off his helmet, and looked at the crowd. _'I've managed to win, somehow…'_ Yusei thought.

"Yeah! Yusei did it!" Leo cheered.

"What a relief…" Luna sighed heavily.

"I knew that Yusei would do it!" Yanagi cheered.

"I thought he was done for there, but what a comeback!" Dexter said.

"You can say that again." Tanner added.

At the duelist lounge…

"Phew… that was too close for comfort." Kurogasa sighed with relief.

"I'm impressed. He managed to make a comeback and defeat Shira. But things are gonna get harder from here on in." Greiger said.

At the private box…

"Ugh." Lazar said in disgust. "Yusei's mark didn't appear."

"There is always the next duel." Goodwin stated. Jack sat there seeing all of what has unfolded today. _'Well, it looks like you managed to win Yusei. But don't celebrate just yet. You still have a long way to go. When we finally get to settle our score, I'll make sure you lose.'_

There you have it. Again, all credits of the duel itself go to Duelist of Dawn. The synchro chants for Archfiend Zombie-Skull and Revived King Ha Des, are made purely by him. I just translated them to Japanese.

(1)- A fiend fallen, but the devil's favorite son will live again. Synchro Summon! Revive, Archfiend Zombie-Skull!

(2)- The King of Fiends has fallen, but now he takes a new throne. Synchro Summon, Rise Up, Revived King Ha Des!

(3)- Clustering minds will now become a new force! Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! Blaze on, Nitro Warrior!


	22. Chapter 20: Truth of the Black Rose

Now it is time for the final duel of the quarter finals. Enjoy! Again, this duel is made by the 3rd chapter in a row, Duelist of Dawn.

Disclaimer: Same as usual.

Chapter 20: Truth of the Black Rose

Yusei, who won his last duel against Shira, parked his runner in the garage. He then walked on his way to the duelist lounge. After a few minutes, the doors to the lounge opened and there he was greeted by Kurogasa and Greiger.

"Hey Yusei! That was a great duel! You got me scared for a minute there, but you won! Congrats!" Kurogasa congratulated.

"Same here. Congratulations on your duel." Greiger added.

"Thanks you two." Yusei said and then looked at the screen. "Now we gotta watch this final duel and it will all be over."

Elsewhere in the KaibaDome, a young man was sitting in front of a computer, with mountains of books stacked around him.

"Disciplinary issues in school, destructive behavior, telekinetic abilities... interesting. Very interesting."

Then, Vice-Director Lazar entered. "Commander Koda, your duel's starting soon."

"Will you leave me alone? I'm still compiling data. I've got 1872 duels to analyze before I can complete my Black Rose Profile."

"Don't let us down." Lazar advised. "The Director is counting on you."

"He won't be disappointed. Because after I duel the Black Rose, we'll know without a doubt whether she is a Signer or not."

"WELCOME BACK LADIES AND GENTLEMEN TO OUR LAST QUARTER FINAL ROUND! I HOPE YOU PEOPLE ARE ABLE TO HOLD OUT FOR ONE LAST EXCITING DUEL! AND NOW ENTERING THE ARENA IS THE DUEL DETECTIVE COMMANDER KODA!" The detective rose into the arena on a hydraulic platform with his duel disk and deck ready.

"AND HIS OPPONENT, WITH A RECORD OF… WELL, IT APPEARS WE DON'T HAVE ANY RECORDS OF HER! BUT WE _CAN _SAY SHE'S… UM… UH… Are you saying we have no information on her?"The MC hissed the last part to a staff member beside him. "UH… WELL, NEW DOMINO CITY, LET'S HEAR IT FOR MS. AKIZA IZINSKI!" Akiza rose up on a hydraulic platform exactly as Koda had.

Luna for someone cried out in pain as she held on to her arm.

"What's wrong?" Leo asked.

"It's her deck... it's like I can feel it in pain..."

Elsewhere in the stadium, on the central level of the stands, a man in a brown trench coat stood, his crimson red hair styled in strange bangs that partially covered the left side of his face. _'Show them what you're made of.' _his lips curved into a smirk.

"OKAY DUELIST! LET'S GET THIS DUEL STARTED! ACTIVATE YOUR DUEL DISKS!" The MC announced. Both duelists did as they were told and then both drew their hands.

"DUEL!"

**Akiza:** 4000

**Koda:** 4000

"I hope you don't mind, but ladies first. Watashi no ta-n! Doro!" Akiza stated as she drew her sixth card. "I start with my Phoenixian Seed in attack mode!" Uprooting from the ground, a dark red seed appeared with red leaves growing from the top and roots from the bottom. Suddenly, it opened its eyes to reveal a beige eye. (2) (ATK: 800/DEF: 0) "And then, by sending it to the graveyard, I can summon Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis!" Then, the seed started to grow to immense size, into a large plant monster with golden branches hanging from the side, crimson leaves up top and finally a head in the shape of a phoenix. (8) (ATK: 2200/DEF: 0)

"Well, would you look at that." Koda complimented. "It appears that our Black Rose happens to have a green-thumb, doesn't she?"

But Akiza ignored him and concluded with, "It's your turn."

"A POWERFUL START BY MISS IZINSKI!" the MC announced. "WILL THE PROFILER COUNTERACT, OR BE UPROOTED HIMSELF?"

"Not a bad move..." the Commander started his turn."But entirely predictable because I've been studying you, Akiza Izinski. I know your every card, your every move. Your past is a crime-scene and I'm just following the clues until I bring you down. And it begins with two copies of Fiend's Sanctuary! That allows me to summon two Metal Fiend Tokens to the field in attack mode!" In two flashes of light, two small monsters made up of silver ball bearings appeared. (1) (ATK: 0/DEF: 0) x2

"I'll then end my turn with a facedown card." the Profiler concluded.

"I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S A SMART MOVE." the MC stated. "EVERYONE KNOWS ABOUT THE METAL FIEND TOKEN'S EFFECT… LET'S SEE WHAT HE'S UP TO…"

"Think of this move symbolizing all the individuals you've met up to now." Koda addressed to his opponent, "No one ever wanted to be friends with someone of your... kind..." He then started to point out the facial expression of Akiza. "Everyone is afraid of those unwavering eyes that gaze hard at others!"

Goodwin looked on with an intriguing expression while addressing the champion. "These ways of dueling do exist, Jack. The man dueling our potential Signer is known as the Profiler.

"Indeed." Lazar stated as he walked into the private box. "He studies his opponent's profile before his matches to compose his deck."

"Watashi no ta-n!" Akiza stated as she drew...

"I activate Battle Mania!" Koda announced, revealing a trap card showing two high school students and a little kid about to gang up on a martial artist. "Now you must attack my monsters, and with my Tokens' effect, you'll lose the duel!"

"Whoa, a one turn kill already!" Dexter gasped. "Unless she decides to only use her Amaryllis to attack, she's done for!"

Akiza was not surprised as he placed a monster card on her tray. "I summon Twilight Rose Knight!"

In a flash of light, a teenage girl appeared, with short, pale blue hair, dressed in jet-black plate armor and white cape, and wielding a short sword. (3) (ATK: 1000/DEF: 1000) "And when Normal summoned, I can summon another Plant Type that's level 4 or below!" She announced, placing another card on the field, "Like my Revival Rose!"

Rising from the ground, three roses with blue pearls inside the petals appeared, blooming next to the knight. (4) (ATK: 1300/DEF: 1300)

In the lounge area, Kurogasa put on a thoughtful look...

'_Okay, I thought it was nothing with the Phoenixian monsters.'_ He said to himself, _'But she's got nothing but plant monsters.'_ He then gasped, _'But wait... if she's tuning a level 3 and a level 4 monster... level 7... plants... no... it can't be...'_

Within the audience...

"Why would Twilight Rose Knight have an effect like that?" Yanagi wondered.

"Duh, it's a Tuner!" Leo exclaimed.

"Tuner?"

"She's gonna Synchro Summon!" Dexter and Leo exclaimed at once.

"Hmm…" Koda muttered. "Looks like you've escaped my trap, but rest assured I'll have the last word in."

"I don't think so!" Akiza shouted. "Now I tune my Level 3 Knight, with my level 4 Rose!" The knight sheathed her sword and turned into three tuning rings, surrounding the Revival Rose, transforming it into four stars. It then exploded into a fiery, purple light as Akiza chanted...

_"Tsumetai honoo ga sekai no subete wo tsutsumikomu! Shikkoku no hana yo, hirake! Shinkuro Shoukan! Araware o, Burakku Roozu Doragon!"_

A beam shot out of the rings and then a familiar sight, made Yusei and Kurogasa gasp and held their marked arms as a black dragon with big red rose petals as its wings with black thorn whips appeared (7) (ATK: 2400/DEF: 1800).

"That dragon..." Yusei muttered.

"No way..." the Haos duelist whispered in fright."She's that duelist we saw from the Daimon Area!"

"Congratulations to the both of you." Greiger said. "Most who encounter the Black Rose Dragon suffer for it terribly. It is said that the dragon's wrath brings true destruction upon the world."

"I've faced that monster in a Duel." Kurogasa replied. Greiger seemed rather surprised at this.

"And you can still walk? I'm impressed, my friend. How did it end?"

"I was nearly beaten to death, and that was before the Black Rose Dragon..."

"So, you're the Black Rose Witch." Koda smirked. "Just as I suspected!"

"She is the Black Rose!" an audience member cried. "Only the Black Rose holds the Black Rose Dragon!"

"A big mistake, Miss Rose." Koda stated. "With a 2200 and now a 2400 monster on the field with Battle Mania active, you'll lose the duel here now!"

"If it weren't for this!" Akiza said. "When Black Rose Dragon is Synchro Summoned, I can destroy all cards on the field! Black Rose Dragon, Black Rose Gale!"

"No!" Koda yelled as Akiza's dragon flapped its wings and roared, unleashing a howling storm of gale-force proportions within the arena. All the cards on the field instantly shattered under the force of the storm, including Akiza's own Black Rose Dragon. Then the gale died down. But then the Profiler calmed down as he said.

"And since Amaryllis went to the graveyard, you lose 800 points." Akiza stated.

The cluster exploded and pelted a hail of burning seeds down on the commander, who actually felt the hit as it hammered him down to his knees!

**Akiza:** 4000

**Koda:** 3200

Luna gasped. "That move actually hurt him!"

"I guess the Black Rose does have special powers." Tanner stated.

"Let's go home!" Yanagi exclaimed frighteningly. "If she can do that to him, imagine what she could do to us!"

"And once again you hurt others through dueling," Koda said as he got up to his feet. He then stared straight at Akiza and shouted, "Psychic Duelist, Akiza Izinski!"

She gasped at that exclamation. Even Yusei and Kurogasa gasped and had the same thought.

_'Psychic Duelist?'_

"Three years ago, on May 15th, you hurt a classmate of yours using Violet Witch during a practice match." Koda stated, "That was the first time you used your powers at Duel Academy. And from then on, you were feared by them and drifted further away from them. Just like how you destroyed every single monster on the field!"

"Not everything." the Plant Duelist snapped. "When a Plant-Type monster that's at least level 5 is destroyed and sent to the graveyard, I can summon back my Revival Rose! And that's exactly what happened when Cluster Amaryllis was destroyed as well!" The triplet roses re-grew themselves on the field.

"And because your Battle Mania is in effect still, I can wage a direct attack!"

On commanded, the pearls inside the roses unleashed red lasers that shot across the Profiler's body, making him cry out and stagger back in pain...

**Akiza:** 4000

**Koda:** 1900

"I then end my turn by playing a facedown card." Akiza continued as a set card appeared near her feet, "Next, I can also remove Phoenixian Seed from my grave and special summon Amaryllis to the field in defense mode!"

As she removed and pocketed the said monster, the Phoenixian Plant re-sprouted and grew, covering itself its wing-like petals.

"And this is the first move that earned you a reputation within the dueling underground," Koda countered, making everyone gasp, "But even then, you felt the guilt of your powers growing and created your 'Black Rose' identity to cope with it and terrorized anyone who got in your way!"

'_So that's why she does this…'_ Kurogasa thought to himself. _'I thought it was because of those marks she, Yusei and I have. She'll even hate Luna because of it...'_

In fact, Luna was holding her arm as well...

"Something wrong, Luna?" Leo asked. She could only shake her head 'no' in response...

"Your Psychic power should be punished." Koda continued as he drew his next card, "And I'll be the one to administer that punishment with the Mind Monster spell card!"Suddenly, a purple plasma like monster emerged from the ground. "With this card, I can select any monster from your Main Deck or Extra Deck. If that card is present, you lose half of its ATK from your life points! And knowing your past, I choose Gigaplant!"

Akiza gasped as the Mind Monster morphed into a large, Venus Flytrap-like monster, but keeping the same purple color. "Sometime after your first duel, you used this monster to terrorize other children your age." Koda stated. "And here's their fear and anger fired at you!" The Gigaplant morph fired a barrage of seeds at Akiza, making her cover with her duel disk.

**Akiza:** 2800

**Koda:** 1900

Most of the crowd cheered at the damage she took.

"Finally, someone's damaging the Witch for a change!"

"Serves her right after the torment she's done!"

"That's too bad, if I had any powers that would hurt!" the Profiler exclaimed as he threw another card on his disk. "I'll continue with Mystic Tomato!"

In a blue flash, a giant, red tomato with a vindictive face appeared and bared its fangs. (4) (ATK: 1400/DEF: 1100) "Attack Revival Rose, now!" He commanded as the living tomato charged straight at the red roses, shattering into pixels.

**Akiza:** 2700

**Koda:** 1900

"Also, to keep myself from losing too soon, I'll activate Dian Keto the Cure Master to increase my life points by 1000!" A green aura surrounded the Profiler, restoring energy.

**Akiza:** 2700

**Koda:** 2900

"And that'll be my turn." He concluded. "Just look forward to the turns to come, divulging more of your past!"

"AND KODA TAKES THE LEAD AWAY FROM THE BLACK ROSE!" the MC shouted as the crowd cheered, "BUT HOW WILL SHE RESPOND?"

"You know, between those two, Akiza's not so bad a person." Kurogasa stated. "If this Koda guy kept pushing my buttons, I'd lash out too."

"But still..."

"Yeah, I know Yusei." the Haos duelist interrupted the Satellite. "But that duel is behind me, I focus on what's in front of me. Like right now, the Fortune Cup..."

"Watashi no ta-n! Doro!" Akiza drew her next card, and then raised her hand over one of her face-down cards, "I activate my facedown card, Hand Destruction!" The spell revealed a Sasuke Samurai chopping cards in half, with a quick strike of the sword, "This allows us both to discard two cards from our hand, but replace them with two cards drawn from the decks!" Both players discarded two cards and then drew two cards.

"I then switch Amaryllis to attack mode and activate my Black Garden Field Spell!" Akiza continued as the Phoenix plant rose up and then inserted card in her field spell slot, causing thorny vines to erupt from underneath her feet, growing into a great dome of red rose plants around them.

"Secluding yourself into your own world." Koda accused. "You once tried to make so many friends despite your powers, but all they did was place a large amount of hate on you!"

Akiza growled as she pointed at the living tomato. "Now, attack Mystic Tomato!" The phoenix plant unleashed flames from its maw, burning the red tomato to ash.

**Akiza:** 2700

**Koda:** 2100

"And after it attacks, it destroys itself and deals 800 points of damage again!"

The audience gasped as Koda was pelted with burning seeds again, following Amaryllis' self-destruction. This time, Koda had a hard time getting up from the attack on his body.

**Akiza:** 2700

**Koda:** 1300

Akiza didn't care as she continued on with her move... "Now Revival Rose returns to the field in defense mode." She announced as the triple rose plant reappeared into defense mode. But suddenly, vines from the field spell lashed out and gripped it under the petals. "And then Black Garden cuts its points in half and summons a Rose Token on to your field!"

Revival Rose- (ATK: 650/DEF: 1300)

Then, a red rose grew and bloomed in front of Koda. (2) (ATK: 800/DEF: 800)

Afterwards, the Black Rose activated a trap showing plant monster, burning in flames. "But don't get happy because with my other facedown Rose Flame, you lose 500 points!" True to her proclamation, the trap card fired a storm of burning flames, increasing the pain on the fallen duelist.

**Akiza:** 2700

**Koda:** 800

"Re-enacting that incident from when you were five now." Koda asked as he chose the time to stand up. It made Akiza and the guy on the central level of the stands, widened their eyes, "The same day your first winning duel, and the thrill had awakened the powers which lied dormant within your subconscious!"

"My powers do more than cause damage to what's around me." Akiza stated. "They do damage to people hearts as well. And these powers are increasing every second."

"Monsters like you can keep fooling yourselves all you like," the Profiler scoffed. "But this is a world for humans! When you destroyed my monster, I can summon DARK monster that has 1500 or fewer ATK, like my Agent of Hatred!"

Then, a sea anemone-like monster appeared, meeting the grip of the vines. (3) (ATK: 0/DEF: 0)

"As you can see, my monster doesn't have any points to cut!"

"I still get a Rose Token on my field!" Akiza countered as a red rose bloomed on to her field.

"But your battle phase is over." Koda grinned, "That means I gain back the life points due to my Agent's effect!" The sea anemone glowed with bright light, restoring the Profiler's points, but not his health...

**Akiza:** 2700

**Koda:** 1600

Contemplating this, Akiza stared at her last card in her hand, the trap Curse of Rose. _'Of course he doesn't understand, the wounds of people's minds never fade away... I only have Sayer and the Arcadia Movement to help me now...'_

Seeing her hesitation, Koda saw his chance to rack up the pressure... "What's wrong? Doesn't the Arcadia Movement have their hopes on that power of yours?"

Akiza and the man now called Sayer gasped.

In the private box...

"So, he's finally brought up the Arcadia Movement, the haven for Psychic Duelist." Lazar smirked. "They are fragile monsters that have been organizing actions and rallies in secret."

On the duel field...

"I've come here for those who believe in me!" Akiza replied to Koda with heart. "I have a power that people need! I set one card facedown and then remove a plant monster, Wall of Ivy to summon back Cluster Amaryllis!"

Koda gasped, "But that means..."

"My monster cuts its ATK in half, and you gain a Rose Token, but with my Rose Flame, you'll lose 500 points for it," the Psychic duelist exclaimed as the phoenix plant returned, wrapped in vines...

Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis- (ATK: 1100/DEF: 0)

A third Rose Token bloomed next to Koda's first token and finally, Rose Flame pelted him with another burning leaf storm...

**Akiza:** 2700

**Koda:** 1100

"I end my turn." Akiza concluded.

Koda growled weakly as he drew, "I activate Card of Demise to draw out my five cards!"

After replenishing his hand, he quickly took one of the cards and placed right on the field.

"I sacrifice the tokens and my Agent of Hatred to summon Mad Profiler!" All three monsters shattered into the darkness, leaving their pixels behind which reformed into a short, pale-skinned and purple-haired man with an insane look on his face. He wore a forest green robe with khaki pants. Finally, he sat on a high stool chair and pointed his left index finger to his forehead while staring at a black book. Even his look never changed as the thorns wrapped around his body.

(8) (ATK: 2600-1300/DEF: 1600)

And another Rose Token sprouted in front of Akiza...

_'This isn't a job anymore! I don't need money either! I'll win this duel and get out ASAP.'_ he thought before he discarded as spell card, "I use Mad Profiler's special effect! I send my spell card, Reload to the graveyard to remove your Black Garden from the game!" A small card image appeared next to the Mad Profiler, letting him take it into his hands and stare at it. He then took his finger off his head and touched the card, making it vanish into thin air. Suddenly, a green aura surrounded the Black Garden and then it vanished as well!

"NOW ITS ATK WON'T BE HALVED ANYMORE!" the MC exclaimed as the thorns around the Mad Profiler died out, restoring his normal power and Cluster Amaryllis'.

Mad Profiler- (ATK: 2600/DEF: 1600)

Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis- (ATK: 2200/DEF: 0)

"If you think that's bad, I send my monster Mind on Air to Remove Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis!" Koda continued as he and his monster repeated the process, causing Amaryllis removed.

"Now Mad Profiler, attack a Rose Token!"

The Profiler cackled manically as he jumped off his chair in a mad dash and slammed his book into one of the roses, shattering its petals across the field.

"Way to go! Attack the monster some more," someone from the crowd cheered as Akiza's points took a huge drop.

**Akiza:** 900

**Koda:** 1100

"So how's that for you?" Koda said loudly. "Stop tarnishing dueling, you monster! Go back to your den!"

Lazar chuckled. "With Commander Koda's sense of crisis, he'll awaken Akiza's Signer mark!"

On the field...

"My turn is not done; I activate Destruction Insurance and Light Law Protection and equip them onto Mad Profiler!" Koda announced inserting the two spell cards, as their images flashed behind the cackling monsters in question.

From the lounge, Greiger spoke out to Yusei and Kurogasa...

"It's over now." the Reactor duelist stated. "Destruction Insurance deals damage equal to the full amount of the equipped monster's ATK, when it's destroyed. And then Light Law Protection destroys a card whose effect, changes the ATK of the equipped monster."

"Sounds like he's trying to counteract the Black Rose Dragon, should it return to the field." Yusei stated.

"It won't work to his advantage though." Kurogasa suddenly spoke up. "Akiza will win this, no matter what... And it'll serve Koda right for putting her down like that..."

"What's wrong?" the Satellite asked.

"They're treating her like a monster out there." the Haos duelist growled. "Sure, I felt those hits from the Daimon Area, but now that I see her under the mask, she's no different from any other person! It's just like how they are treating the Satellites... like animals that need to be put down!" He was clenching his fist real tight.

"Kurogasa..."

"Watashi no ta-n! Doro!" Akiza drew. "I use Magic Planter to destroy my Rose Flame and draw two cards!" The trap in question shattered as the Plant duelist drew two more cards, immediately playing one of them, "Now, I activate the spell card Earthquake switching your monster to defense mode!" True to the spell's name, an earthquake shook up the Mad Profiler and switched him to defense mode. "Now, I activate Monster Reborn to revive an old friend of yours!" Akiza shouted, throwing the next spell card into the disk. "Appear, Black Rose Dragon!"

Returning from a wind of black petals, the signature monster of the Black Rose returned, making everyone quake in fear and the marks of the known Signer's burn on their arms…

Koda breathed heavily as he shouted. "The Witch's trump returns! Bring it on! I'm ready for you!"

But then he really hit below the belt as he shouted...

"YOU'RE A MONSTER THAT'S BEEN ABANDONED BY HER PARENTS!"

At that point, the hairpiece Akiza had fell to the ground, uncurling the six long tentacle-like bangs over her face, instantly gaining a dye of dark-blue. Also, her psychic aura became more threatening, "You will pay for trampling all over the feelings of others..." Then she stared hard at Koda with cold eyes of malice. "Engrave this pain upon your form!"

"You can't even fight back without harming yourself!" Koda stated. "Just admit defeat, monster!"

Akiza was still making her move, removing a monster from her graveyard..." I activate Black Rose Dragon's second effect, I remove a Plant Type Monster from the game, and now I can change the ATK of one monster of yours to 0!"

An image of a small plant with two red eyes appeared as a ghost image, right in front the dragon. After devouring it in one bite, the dragon quickly coiled its thorny appendages around the Mad Profiler.

Mad Profiler- (ATK: 0/DEF: 1600)

Ha! That's what I was waiting for!" Koda shouted manically. "Now my equip-spell activates! And because you used Black Rose Dragon's special ability, my Life Law Protection automatically destroys it!" the black mist surrounding the profiler fired a beam of orange light that pierced through the dragon's neck. The Black Rose Dragon's existence ended in a giant explosion. The shock caused something to go off in Akiza's arm. Crimson marks ran across her right arm in the form of a dragon's claw. As true as it was, Akiza Izinski is another Signer.

Her dormant power is now well know as it was monitored on Zigzix's D-Tector. "We've captured her energy!"

"Good, only two more to find." Lazar grinned.

Within the burning remains of Black Rose Dragon, Akiza shouted, "I activate the trap card, Curse of Rose!" The Black Rose's reverse card opened, unleashing a flurry of blue petal, surrounding Koda, "Because your monster's ATK points are altered, you take damage equal to the difference in its original ATK power and its new ATK power!" Both Akiza's malice-filled eyes and Koda's frightened eyes met when the Plant duelist said... "Sic him!" The Commander screamed in horror as the petals spun faster and faster, creating a cyclone of roses. Each and every rose petal was razor-sharp and sliced deeply in Koda's body. The twister dispatched as his bloody, fallen form lied in a crater, with the petals falling over him.

**Akiza:** 900

**Koda:** 0

"THE BLACK ROSE WINS!" The MC shouted in hurry. "NOW GET MEDICAL ATTENTION OUT HERE QUICK!" And as if on cue, the medical team showed up when one of the platform hydraulics moved and rose up with the medical team there. The medical team then got Koda onto a stretcher and then the platform hydraulics went back down and closed.

At the lounge…

Yusei and Kurogasa were at a loss for words of what just happened.

"Well that's that." Greiger said.

"Sure is. It doesn't matter which one of us is dueling her now. It's going to be real dangerous from here on out." Yusei added. Kurogasa just stood in silence.

Meanwhile, Sayer stood over the stand, who was actually impressed with Akiza's performance. "Another fine victory. You've grown. You're beginning to control your powers. I hope you can do the same against whoever you're facing next. I have a feeling that your next opponent will be biggest test you have ever faced."

There ya go guys! The quarter finals of the Fortune Cup are done! Again, credit The Duelist of Dawn for this duel.


	23. Chapter 21: Fighting For Justice

It's the start of the Fortune Cup Semi-Finals people! Hope you're excited as I am. Now let's going with it! Oh, Duelist of Dawn also created this duel, so credit him for that.

Disclaimer: Same old, same old.

Chapter 21: Fighting For Justice

We last left where The Black Rose, er-hem, I mean… Akiza Izinski has defeated Commander Koda, the Dueling Detective. Most of the audience was still shaken up by what just took place. But after Akiza left the dueling area, everyone relaxed. Yusei and Kurogasa were at the stands with their friends.

"Well, this day of craziness has finally end… for now." Kurogasa said.

"Yeah. But who knows what's in store for tomorrow." Yusei wondered. Luna was thinking the same thing too as she glanced at her arm that bore her mark of the Crimson Dragon.

"What's wrong, Luna?" Yanagi asked, "Hurt your arm during the duel?"

"Yeah, you keep looking at it like you're expecting to see something." Dexter added.

"It's fine, I promise."

"If you say so." Yusei said. "Now, I think it's time to get you two home."

"Have fun babysitting them." Tanner teased.

"Alright!" Leo cheered. "We'll have an all-night dueling sleepover!"

"I don't know about all-night dueling, but a sleepover sounds good." Kurogasa laughed a little.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!" the MC announced from the sphere, "THE SECOND ROUND HAS BEEN ANNOUNCED! CHECK OUT THE COMPETITION BRACKET!" The tournament showed the four duelists who will be dueling against each other. But Kurogasa was in shock when he saw who he'll duel tomorrow. Even his friends gasped at what they saw on the bracket.

**Yusei Fudo vs. Greiger**

**Akiza Izinski vs. Kurogasa Kururugi**

"No way…" Kurogasa gasped.

"That tournament bracket must be broken or something!" Leo protested.

"Apparently not. Kurogasa is really gonna duel Akiza!" Luna said.

"WHO KNOWS WHAT KIND OF EXCITEMENT AWAITS! WHO WILL WIN? WHO WILL LOSE? 4 DUELISTS, 2 ROUNDS! WHO WILL IT BE? THINGS ARE GONNA GET REAL CRAZY! SEE YA' TOMORROW!" then the screen went blank, concluding today of the Fortune Cup preliminaries.

"And Yusei is going up against Greiger." Dexter said.

"Looks like you'll be Turbo Dueling." Tanner told Yusei.

"It's that bad?"

"You bet, because rumors on the circuit said Greiger's got a new duel runner he's gonna be using. It's supposed to be unbeatable."

Hearing that, Leo got nervous. _'I can't let Greiger win...'_ he thought, _'Oh, if I can sneak into his garage before the match, I can see what he's got planned and tell Yusei!'_

"Uh, are you okay?" Luna asked, spotting the expression on Leo's face.

"Huh? Oh! Yeah! Fine! I, uh, just left something! Somewhere else! Be right back!" Leo quickly went on his way out.

"Where are you going?" Kurogasa asked.

"Oh! You know! The place with the, uh... Oh! Look at the time! Gotta go!" he made his exit before any more questions can be made.

"Leo? ...This can't be good."

Later on that night…

Leo was sneaking around in the Kaiba Dome garage area. That's when he noticed Greiger's garage.

"Greiger's garage! Time to check out that super-secret runner of his."

Leo noticed an open window around the building of Greiger's garage. Even when it took about five crates to climb up, he managed to reach the window, "Almost there; just a few more inches and I'm in..." he really did get in, but only by plummeting on the floor after slipping through.

"Next time I'm packing a parachute." Leo regained his posture and switched on a small pocket-flashlight, only to be welcomed by a giant monster! He went screaming like a little girl and quickly backed up to a corner, which he then heard the monster roaring a wailing screech!

"THIS ISN'T HAPPENING! IF I CAN'T SEE THEM THEY CAN'T SEE ME!"

At the Tops…

"Leo's never late for dinner." Yusei, Kurogasa, and Luna were sitting on the sofa, with a table of silver platters in front of them. "I mean, he loves food as much as loves dueling, maybe even more." Luna looked over at the clock on the wall, "And he knows 8 P.M.'s his curfew."

"I'll go out and find him." Yusei stood up. "I have a feeling he's in trouble."

"I'm going with ya. Who knows where that kid is at now?" Kurogasa said getting up too.

"I can help." Luna followed.

"You should stay here; it's late." Yusei said.

"Please? He's my brother! What if he's hurt? And we can cover more ground in maybe half the time!"

"She's got a point; Alright then, we'll go on my runner, okay?" Kurogasa said.

Meanwhile, back at the Kaiba Dome at the garage area…

_'Someone must've tripped the alarm to my garage.'_ Greiger thought walking up to where his garage is holding a large monkey wrench. When he lifted up the door, he found Leo lying on the floor fast asleep.

"...What are you doing here?"

On the streets…

Yusei skidded his runner to a stop beside an alleyway as Kurogasa and Luna met up with him. "So did you find Leo?"

Kurogasa shook his head. "No. Me and Luna searched everywhere on our end."

"I'm scared."

"Don't worry, Luna; your brother's out there and we'll find him." suddenly, there was a chiming sound from his duel runner as a video screen appeared on the display, showing a familiar face: "Blister!"

_"Yusei, I went to your bunker, but the place is totally trashed!"_

"Trashed? But they're okay, right?"

Blister shook his head, _"They're missing; and I can't find a trace."_

"Seriously?" Kurogasa asked.

Flashback- a few days before the tournament

_Yusei and Kurogasa were working on their runners and Blister was there as well. Yusei had a request for Blister._

"_I need you do to do something for us." Yusei said holding out a picture of Rally, Blitz, Nervin, and Tank. Blitz took the picture and looked at it._

"_Are these your friends from the Satellite?" Blister asked._

"_Yeah. A guy from Sector Security gave it to us. He said if Kurogasa and I don't compete, Rally and the others will suffer the consequences." Yusei said._

"_So, you want me to find them?"_

"_Please. We just want to be sure they're okay." Kurogasa said._

"_Alright then…" Blister said getting up from his seat and started to head out the exit, but then stopped to look back at them. "Consider it done. I'll go to the Satellite and check on them. I'll make sure no one hurts your friends. You'll be back with them in no time."_

"_Thanks." Yusei said._

End Flashback

"What happened? Did Goodwin take them in?" Yusei asked.

_"No idea. And here's where the trail goes cold: after I hacked into Security, I couldn't find a trace of them. It's like they just vanished. And if Goodwin's got a hold of them, they could be anywhere by now- Ugh! They're tracking my signal! I gotta sign off quick! I'll be back if I find anything." _

"Thanks." with that, Yusei clicked off the screen, his stern face spotted by Luna.

"I'm sorry. Are your friends missing, too?"

"Yeah." _'And I blame myself...'_

'_Damn you Goodwin. You gave your word that you wouldn't harm them…' _Kurogasa muttered angrily in his thoughts. Suddenly, Luna heard a sharp CLANG as a tin can crashed onto the road. "Yusei! Kurogasa! Someone's in the alley!" she, Kurogasa, and Yusei turned to see Greiger stepping out of the shadows, with a little boy over his shoulder. "He's got Leo!"

"And he doesn't look too happy about it." Yusei distorted. "Greiger, what are you doing with Leo?"

"Relax. He's alright." the South American assured "He broke into my garage. I found him sleeping on the floor."

Back at the Tops, Greiger looked over a still-sleeping Leo, snoring very loud. He stepped from his room and found Yusei, tucking Luna in on the couch. "The boy's sound asleep."

"Sure can snore, can he?"

"Yep." Greiger smiled. They exited the room and walked out onto a poolside patio.

"Thanks for bringing Leo back. I owe you one."

"Forget it." Greiger replied. "He was just trying to help you out."

"Help me out?"

"He wanted a sneak-peek at my new duel runner like everyone else out there. In fact, I had to install five new alarm systems just to keep it under wraps."

"...You gonna call Security?"

"No. He reminds me of my own little brother. I'm not gonna punish him just because he's trying to help you win our duel tomorrow. It won't make a difference; you're still going down. I may be a good guy off the track, but trust me when I say that you don't wanna mess with me when I'm turbo-dueling. After all, these are the big leagues, Yusei. And there's quite a lot riding on this tournament for me and my future."

"What? Like a big trophy?"

"Big trophy? No, the future I'm talking about is for my family." Greiger walked away slightly. "They're far away, waiting, hoping I'll give them some help. We used to count the stars together..." he looked up in the heavens. "Here, there's only smog. And you; why are you dueling here?"

"...My friends. I don't have a choice about it. Kurogasa entered so he can find out more about his past. He's got amnesia."

"I see. Let me guess: Goodwin made you two an offer you couldn't refuse. Sound right?"

"How'd you know? He came to you, too?"

Greiger nodded. "He offered me a chance to rebuild my family's village. My people believe that our forefathers were servants to the People of the Stars, and our village has a deep and hidden power."

"Hidden power? Are you talking about the legend of the Crimson Dragon?"

"That's right. Legend has it that whoever controls the dragon also gets to control the destiny of the world. I hadn't been back to my village in years. But after I complete my mission here, I'll head back to rebuild my home."

"...You can't trust Goodwin's word, Greiger."

"Easy for you to say. I need that power to help rebuild my village. I heard it was consumed by fire and destruction unlike any natural disaster the world has ever seen. Then Director Goodwin came to me. He said he'd help, but not until I help him continue with his quest."

"Greiger, don't you see you're being used?"

"If it's the only way to rebuild my village, then I'll let him use me all he wants, Yusei. Sorry, but tomorrow, I had to win no matter what."

"And my friends need me."

"Then I guess we'll leave it at that. May the best man win." Greiger began to walk back inside, but stopped when he crossed Yusei, "You're a good guy, Yusei. And in a perfect world, we both get what we want in the arena tomorrow. But the world isn't perfect. One of us has to lose. And tomorrow, it's gonna be you," with that, he left. Little do they both know that Kurogasa was eavesdropping on the entire conversation. He was hiding in a corner of the house near the patio.

'_Goodwin? Using people? No… he would never do that.'_ Kurogasa thought.

Morning came, and the sun was shining over at the stadium packed Kaiba Dome.

"WELCOME BACK LAIDES AND GENTLEMEN TO THE SEMI-FINALS OF THE FORTUNE CUP! FOUR DUELISTS REMAIN, AND THE WINNER WILL TAKE ON JACK ATLAS IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP DUEL!" the MC announced. "BUT FIRST, OUR TURBO DUEL! IT'S THE SHOOTING STAR OF SATELLITE YUSEI FUDO, GOING UP AGAINST THE TOWER OF POWER GREIGER! SO GET READY FOR IT!" The audience cheered.

"Luna, have you seen Leo?" Yanagi asked Luna.

"Yeah, he said he had something important to tell Yusei."

In the Kaiba-Dome garages...

"Yusei..." Yusei Fudo realized that Leo came into the room without looking up from his duel runner. Kurogasa was with him too. "I'm really sorry about yesterday." he said apologetically. "I was just trying to help."

"I understand, but cheating's never the answer." Yusei replied, "And besides, I don't need to cheat to beat Greiger. Now if you would excuse me, I have a turbo duel to win."

"Go get him Yusei!" Kurogasa said giving him a thumbs-up.

"Take him down!" Yusei smiled and gave Leo and Kurogasa a thumbs-up, before he skied off to the track. "I believe in you!" Leo called. "I know you can do it!"

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, LET'S GIVE IT UP FOR YUSEI FUDO!" the MC shouted. Yusei burst onto the track, riding his crimson runner. Cheers and boos were mixed throughout the stadium. Confined inside a dark room, Greiger lay wait for what is to come. His thoughts were invaded with a dream he has last night...

_'This is for my family. And once I win the match, I'll get exactly what I want. Goodwin, have I got a surprise for you...'_ Greiger lift his eyes open, emitting a murderous glare as light began to shine on him.

While Yusei drove to the starting line, a powerful roar shook the stadium. It got louder as a burst of smoke exploded from another tunnel and a giant mount rocketed out to the stadium!

"WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT? IT'S THE MOST POWERFUL DUEL RUNNER I'VE EVER SEEN!" the MC shouted, "IT'S A WHOPPER OF A CHOPPER! IT'S THE WHEELS WITH APPEALS! LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, IT'S GREIGER AND HIS BEAST!" It was a massive duel runner in a chopper style, but more of a giant dragster with a bull skull in front!

"That's one big duel runner!" Tanner exclaimed. "Yusei gonna have his work cut out for him!"

Leo rushed down the stands towards his friends. "What'd I miss?"

"Just that." Luna pointed. "Greiger's runner!"

Leo looked to where she was pointing and saw Greiger's duel runner, or more importantly, what was attached there as a hood ornament: the steel bull's skull! "That's what I saw in Greiger's garage! No wonder he had an alarm! That thing looks so cool!"

At the lounge…

"Holy crap! That's a big ass runner he's got!" Kurogasa said surprised.

From Goodwin's private box, Jack is about to witness another duel, _'Greiger, you had better not jeopardize my chances at getting even with Yusei_.' his mind growled. The two riders drove up to their respective starting places.

"You call that thing a duel runner, Yusei?" Greiger teased. "Did it come with training wheels for ya?"

"Just because you're bigger doesn't mean you're better, Greiger."

"Yeah right! Talk to me after the duel's done! Good luck; 'cause you're gonna need it!"

"AND NOW, TIME TO ACTIVATE SPPED WORLD!"

"FI-RUDO MAHO! SUPIDO WARUDO! SETTO ON!" Both duelists shouted as they both pressed a button on their runners.

**"DUEL MODE. AUTOPILOT ON. STANDBY."**

The words 'DUEL MODE' appeared on both duelist's screens, then showed the playing field and their speed counters. Then a blue aura shot out of both runners.

"THIS IS IT PEOPLE! SPEED WORLD IS ACTIVATED MEANING ONLY SPEED SPELLS ARE ONLY ALLOWED! FIRST ONE TO TURN THE CORNER GETS THE FIRST TURN!"

"Get ready to eat my dust!" Greiger said.

"Bring it then." Yusei countered.

"RIDING DUEL, ACCELERATION!"

Both duelists raced off the starting line, after a few seconds, Greiger was the first to turn the corner. Both duelists then drew their starting hand. "I'll start this duel off then."

**Grieger:** 4000/**SPC:** 0

**Yusei:** 4000/**SPC:** 0

Greiger drew his sixth card, "I summon out my Spell Reactor – RE in attack mode!" Placing the named card on the duel board, the dragon-like reactor appeared flying right by the massive D-Wheel. (3) (ATK: 1200/DEF: 900) "And then I place three cards facedown to end my turn!" the Reactor duelist concluded as set card appeared in front and by his sides, before vanishing off the tracks.

"Ore no ta-n!" Yusei declared and drew his sixth card.

**Greiger's SPC:** 1

**Yusei's SPC:** 1

Yusei held up one of his cards, "I activate..."

But the command was interrupted by the roar of Greiger's engines.

"How's Yusei going to concentrate with the engines blaring in his ear?" Tanner wondered.

"Who says he can't?" Leo added.

Blocking out the engine noises, Yusei made his move, inserting a card into his disk...

"I activate the Speed Spell – Overboost! This card lets me gain 4 Speed Counters automatically!" He announced as he suddenly rode further away from Greiger in high speed.

**Greiger's SPC:** 1

**Yusei's SPC: **5

"And with my new speed, I activate another Speed Spell – Angel Baton!" the Satellite continued playing another card, "I can draw two new cards, and then send one the cards in my hand to the graveyard!" He quickly made his two draws, before sending one to the discard slot. And then, he held up one card, "Now since I don't have monsters at the moment, I can special summon Junk Forward to the field!"

Through a blue portal, a soldier clad in tan armor with red signs on its head and belt rushed out, carrying a metal pipe on its back. (3) (ATK: 900/DEF: 1500)

"Then, I'll summon out Junk Synchron." Yusei continued bringing out his signature synchron monster. (3) (ATK: 1300/DEF: 500)

"By summoning Junk Synchron, I can activate my Hidden Soldiers trap card." Grieger interrupted, revealing his trap, "And if you seen my match with Luna, you know I can summon out Trap Reactor Y-FI, as it fits the requirements!" The dark green fighter plane appeared in a bright flash, taking defensive action as it flew over Greiger. (4) (ATK: 800/DEF: 1800)

"I know what Greiger's working towards." Dexter realized.

"Yeah, that Flying Fortress SKYFIRE!" Leo exclaimed.

"I hope Yusei's got something to stop it from coming." Tanner added.

"Pretty quick on bringing out your big monster." the Satellite stated to the Reactor duelist, "But Junk Synchron also brings back a Level 2 or below monster from my graveyard! So I'll bring back the monster I discarded with Angel Baton, Tuningware!"

With a wave of his hand, Junk Synchron opened the portal for a small robot clad in a yellow scarf and frying pan over its head. (1) (ATK: 100/DEF: 300)

"So, you're Synchro Summoning a level 7 summon monster." Greiger figured. "But I doubt it won't reach my monsters..."

"Actually, it'll be level 8!" Yusei countered, "Because when Tuningware is about to be used for a Synchro Summoning, I can make its level 2! Plus, I can draw as soon as it takes place."

"What?" the giant D-Wheeler gasped.

"Next, I'll tune my Level 3 Junk Synchron, with level 3 Junk Forward and Tuningware as a level 2 monster," Yusei announced as Junk Synchron revved up the engine on his back, transforming into three green rings, encircling Junk Forward and Tuningware, transforming them into five stars...

_"Tsudoishi Tosuhi ga Dogou no Majin wo Yobisamasu. Hikari sasu Michi tonare! Shinkuro Shoukan! Funsai-seyo, Jyanku Desutoroiyaa!" _(1)

From a huge light, spawning from the tuning process, a massive, four-armed warrior hovered over Yusei's D-Wheel, clad in grey and silver steel armor with steel wings on its back. It let out a mighty battle roar as Yusei drew the card from Tuningware's effect. (8) (ATK: 2600/DEF: 2500)

Kurogasa whistled from the lounge room. "Of course; against Greiger, he'd have to go big!"

"Look at that." Yanagi shouted, "It's enormous!"

"You ain't gotta tell me twice, grandpa." Tanner grinned, "I'd like to see Greiger get out of this..."

"THIS HAS GOT TO BE THE BIGGEST MONSTER, YUSEI HAS EVER SUMMONED!" the MC exclaimed, "IT MAY POSSIBLY BE HIS ULTIMATE MONSTER!"

From Goodwin's private box, Jack scoffed. 'Not _his ultimate monster... which he's nothing without...'_

"Grieger could definitely bring out Yusei's mark." Lazar said with glee, "After all, he did a tremendous job with little Luna!"

"But it would take a lot more than this, I'm afraid." Goodwin replied.

"I'm used to facing bigger monsters." Greiger boasted. "Or have you forgotten my SKYFIRE?"

"I haven't." Yusei stated. Then smirked, "But I will forget him in this duel, which is why Junk Destroyer's here! You see, when he's Synchro Summoned, I can destroy a number of cards on your field, equal to the non-Tuner monsters used for his Synchro Summon! I figured a monster like this would be just what would fit in your deck."

Greiger gasped.

"The cards I'll destroy will be the Trap Reactor Y-FI and your facedown card!" Yusei announced as the new Synchro monster created two bombs out of spare junk parts and then launched them at the fighter plane and the facedown card, revealing to be a trap, Jack knew all too well...

"So his facedown card WAS Fake Explosion," he exclaimed.

"Why didn't he go after Spell Reactor?" Luna wondered. "He could've made a direct attack on Greiger's life points."

"Because Fake Explosion could've still out his Summon Reactor after the damage has been dealt." Dexter replied. "Its first effect would've kept a monster from being destroyed in battle as well."

"Now Junk Destroyer, attack Spell Reactor with Junk Rage!" Yusei commanded as the massive Junk monster hovered over the Spell Reactor, taking it in its hands and then crushed it into pixels. Greiger's D-Wheel started to slow down, but not spin out like the smaller models...

**Grieger:** 2600/**SPC:** 0

**Yusei:** 4000/**SPC:** 5

"It's kinda sad though." Kurogasa said to himself. "They both have so much to work for from their victories, so it's a bad ending no matter the outcome..."

"In response to Spell Reactor's destruction, I activate Card of Last Will!" the Reactor duelist announced, activating his trap card. It depicted a hand sticking out of the graveyard, holding five Duel Monster cards, "Since you destroyed a monster of mine, I can draw five cards to replenish my hand!"

Leo gasped as Greiger drew out the five cards, giving him a total of 6 to work with, "His hand's stacked up now!"

"I place one card facedown and end my turn." Yusei concluded as a set card appeared next to his D-Wheel, before vanishing, "And because of the End Phase, Overboost causes my Speed Counters to go down to 1." Then, the red D-Wheel slowed down, right near Greiger...

**Greiger's SPC:** 0

**Yusei's SPC:** 1

"WHAT A MOVE!" the MC exclaimed, "YUSEI KNEW WHAT WAS COMING AND WAS PREPARED TO SHUT DOWN GREIGER'S STRATEGY! LET'S SEE HOW THE TOWER OF POWER RESPONDS!"

"Impressive move, my friend." Greiger praised. "But don't think is over yet! I still have a lot more than just Flying Fortress SKYFIRE to work with! Knowing your tactics against Shira, I have something special for you!

Yusei sighed, _'I knew it...'_

"I draw!" Greiger drew.

**Greiger's SPC:** 1

**Yusei's SPC:** 2

"Let me take a page from your book and use my own Speed Spell – Overboost to pass you up!" Everyone gasped as Greiger's vehicle started to speed up, causing Yusei to move away before he was crushed.

**Greiger's SPC:** 5

**Yusei's SPC:** 2

"I now activate the Speed Spell – Speed Fusion!" He continued, playing a card showing the fusion of Dark Magician and Flame Swordsman taking place within Speed World.

_'A fusion monster?'_ Yusei, Jack and Kurogasa thought questionably.

"I fuse Summon Reactor SK with my Jigen Bakudan to Fusion Summon my Ignition Beast Volcannon!" Greiger announced as a fusion portal opened up, bringing the beige, robot plane and a small, time bomb-looking monster together and merge with one another. The end result created a large, machine-dragon covered in multiple armaments that descended towards the field. (6) (ATK: 2300/DEF: 1600)

Questionable looks were on the faces of the audiences and competitors alike... but soon vanish when the duelists spoke...

"Unless you have a Speed Spell that increases your new monster's power, I'm afraid it'll stay weak." Yusei stated.

"Of course its weak, that's why I plan to blow it up." Greiger smirked.

Everyone gasped before the towering duelist continued...

"You see, when Volcannon is Fusion Summoned, I can destroy it and another monster on the field! And then, you take damage equal your monster's ATK!" Everyone watched as Volcannon charged and collided with Junk Destroyer in his grasp. Next, it started to glow bright red until...

BOOM!

Both monsters exploded in a flaming cloud as Yusei's D-Wheel spun out of control, while Greiger's continue to roll out even further.

**Grieger:** 2600/**SPC:** 5

**Yusei:** 1400/**SPC:** 0

"A STUNNING COMEBACK FROM THE TOWER OF POWER!" the MC announced, "WHAT AN EXPLOSIVE TURN AROUND!"

"Now to end this, I summon the Pump-Action Commando in attack mode!" Grieger shouted as a giant gorilla jumped out of a summon portal. But the difference from a normal gorilla, were the metal spikes on its shoulders and wore gloves, also made of metal. (4) (ATK: 1600/DEF: 1400) "Now attack Yusei directly!" The powered-up gorilla rushed towards the Satellite's D-Wheel.

"I activate Defense Draw!" Yusei announced, revealing his trap card and created an emerald barrier that bounced the attack away from him, and let him draw another card, "Sorry Greiger, but the damage is negated and I get to draw another card!"

Yusei's friends gave a big sigh of relief.

_'You better keep this up, Yusei.'_ Jack thought. _'I'm the only one who's allowed to defeat you!'_

"I end my turn with two facedown cards." Greiger concluded, inserting his two cards into his duel board, "And you know Overboost slows me down as well." True to his words, Greiger's D-Wheel slowed down, but still fast enough to keep Yusei behind him.

**Greiger's SPC:** 1

**Yusei's SPC:** 0

"Ore no ta-n!" Yusei drew.

**Greiger's SPC:** 2

**Yusei's SPC:** 1

"I place one card facedown and summon my Fortress Warrior in attack mode!" Yusei announced as he brought out a four-legged stone monster, holding on to a stone slab that looked like part of a helipad over his head. (2) (ATK: 600/DEF: 1200)

'_Why'd he summon a weaker monster?'_ Greiger thought to himself.

Yusei then glanced at the card he just drew... a gift from Rally before he left the Satellite...

Flashback

_"Oh, almost forgot!" Rally ran up to Yusei, reached into his pocket and gave him a card. "Here, for good luck."_

_"What is it, Rally?" Yusei asked as he took the card._

_"Turbo Booster!"_

_"But wasn't this your father's card?"_

_"Mhm, I want you to take it. Like my dad always says, you'll never know when you might need a boost..."_

End Flashback

"Remember, we got something in common, Greiger." Yusei replied, "We're both out for our own. And if I'm planning on winning this battle, I'll need my friends to get me to the finish line!" Yusei presented his card, "This is for you. Rally; and the rest of my pals! I summon Turbo Booster in ATK mode!" the small yellow launcher appeared to aid Fortress Warrior (1) (ATK: 0/DEF: 0) "Now, Fortress Warrior! Attack Greiger's Commando!"

"You're just sending your monster to its doom!" the towering duelist shouted.

"Not with Turbo Booster's special ability! You see, by releasing this card, I can take down a monster of yours as long as it's fighting against one of mine!"

"But because of the battle, I'll be taking you down to 100 life points!" Greiger protested.

"I don't think so! Fortress Warrior can make my battle damage become zero, plus save himself from being destroyed in battle once per turn!" Fortress propped itself onto Turbo Booster's launcher arms, "I release Turbo Booster!" Turbo fired off its arms and shot Fortress Warrior through the air. It was just what the golem needed as it pummeled through Pump-Action Commando!

"Yusei, you cut that a little close." Kurogasa smiled, despite his earlier worrying.

Pixilated remains of his monster rained down around them as Greiger stared upwards in horror as he witnessed what's left of his monster scattering to the winds.

"THIS IS INCREDIBLE!" the MC shouted, "YUSEI STOPS GREIGER ONCE AGAIN!"

"You may have stopped my 2nd assault, but let's see how you handle my Chariot Pile trap card!" As soon as Greiger activated his trap, the wheel hubs on his duel runner popped off; giving way to barbed spiked axles stretching out, "You won't defeat me, Yusei! There's too much at stake here!"

Flashback

_Before the start of the Fortune Cup the other day, Greiger was inside a corporate building to check out some files, when a screen came on to show a female representative of the Fortune Cup..._

_"Mr. Greiger, the opening ceremonies are starting. Please report to Kaiba Corp. Arena," She said._

_But he wasn't listening... he was too busy crying over his own laptop, reading one of the files containing a message reading..._

_"Greiger, I couldn't believe it until I got there, but what you said was true. My heart goes out. I sincerely hope they rest in peace."_

_He broke down crying afterwards, thinking only one thing now: 'You will pay for this Goodwin!'_

End flashback

"I can't afford to lose here!" Greiger shouted as he prepared to draw, "My move!" He drew his next card.

**Greiger's SPC:** 3

**Yusei's SPC:** 2

"I activate my trap card, Chariot Pile's first effect!" He announced. "Once per turn, I can deal 800 points of damage to you... but if you can release a monster, the effect is negated! So what will it be?"

"I release Fortress Warrior to negate the damage." Yusei stated as his stone monster jumped in front of the spikes, taking the hit for him.

"I end my turn with a face-down card." Grieger concluded.

"Ore no ta-n!" Yusei drew.

**Greiger's SPC: **4

**Yusei's SPC:** 3

"Next, I'll summon Speed Warrior!" Yusei began, bringing out his signature skating warrior. (2) (ATK: 900/DEF: 400)

"Now, I'll double its attack points and let it attack you directly!" he announced as his warrior charged up his power...

Speed Warrior- (ATK: 1800/DEF: 400)

Then, he raced towards the giant runner, preparing to strike...

_'So he's not Synchro summoning.'_ Greiger thought. _'I still won't let you strike me.'_ Out loud... "I activate Chariot Pile's other effect, I can pay 800 life points to negate your direct attack and destroy it!" Speed Warrior started his roundhouse kick, only for a barrier to surround the towering duelist to block the attack and destroy the warrior...

**Grieger:** 1800/**SPC:** 4

**Yusei:** 1400/**SPC:** 3

Yusei's friends gasped.

"And he just summoned that monster, too." Leo sulked.

"I set one card facedown and end my turn." Yusei concluded.

"I draw!" Greiger drew.

**Greiger's SPC:** 5

**Yusei's SPC:** 4

"I summon Black Salvo to the field!" He began, summoning a giant, black bomb with a red eyes and an evil grin. (3) (ATK: 100/DEF: 1100) "When summoned, I can summon a Level 4 DARK attribute monster from the graveyard in defense mode, like my Trap Reactor Y-FI!" Black Salvo spat out four smaller bombs from its mouth, creating a collective explosion... soon, the Trap Reactor flew out in dark blue.

"Now, I can tune my Level 3 Black Salvo with Level 4 Trap Reactor!"

Yusei glared as the black bomb transformed into three green rings, surrounding the Reactor and transforming it into four stars that shined.

"So, you have a synchro monster also." He realized.

"For my match against you, I had to fight fire with fire!" Greiger shouted as the synchro summoning was complete, "Appear now, Dark Strike Fighter!"

The new monster looked in relation to the Reactor monsters as it was created from a fighter jet, made humanoid. It's orange and blue frame flexed out, showing off its power and cannons on the shoulders. (7) (ATK: 2600/DEF: 1900)

"Now, I'll have it attack directly!" He commanded as the Fighter unleashed a barrage of missiles.

"I activate my facedown card, Synchro Spirits!" The Satellite countered. "By removing my Junk Destroyer, I can summon the monsters used to summon it, so that means Junk Synchron, Junk Forward and Tuningware to the field!"

Kurogasa smiled and nodded. "This is how he kept himself together against Shira, only this time he's using it for either to attack, or create another Synchro Summon!"

On cue, the three monsters that created Junk Destroyer appeared, racing around the tracks with Yusei. Every one of those monsters was dark blue, showing that they were in defense mode. Then, Junk Synchron bravely took the attack, sacrificing his life.

"And since you're life points are at 1400, I can use Dark Strike Fighter's effect." Greiger smirked. "I can release a monster and deal damage equal to 200 times the monster's level. I can even release the monster about to activate it!"

"Not so fast!" Yusei announced. "I send Effect Veiler from my hand to the graveyard, in order to negate your monster's effect this turn!" He slid the monster into his Graveyard, and Dark Strike Fighter was stopped by a phantom of a cute aqua-blue haired young woman, wearing a pale pink thigh length coat that bared her shoulders and tight black leggings, white angelic wings sprouting from her shoulders.

"Not bad, but I'm afraid that your fate has been sealed, Yusei," Greiger said, "There is nothing you can do to win this duel now. On my next turn, you're finished!"

"It all comes down to this next move by Yusei," the MC shouted, "He has only two monsters to defend him, but next turn it won't matter if Dark Strike Fighter gets his effect activated!"

"I draw," Yusei drew.

**Greiger's SPC:** 6

**Yusei's SPC:** 5

"I release Junk Forward to summon my Quickdraw Synchron to the field," He announced, as Tuningware transformed into a bright, blue sphere that brought out a small machine, looking something out of the old West, clad in a blue metal tunic, red cape, yellow boots and a brown hat with a white feather inside. To complete the appearance, it had a small pistol in its left hand. (5/700/1400)

"Another tuner monster." Greiger acknowledged.

"Yes and my Quickdraw Synchron can be substituted as another Synchron monster for a Synchro Monster," the Satellite replied, "And I'll tune him and Tuningware, as level 1 this time, for a Synchro Summon!"

_"Tsudoishi hoshi ga, saranaru chikara wo tsumugidasu. Hikari sasu Michi tonare! Shinkuro Shoukan! Todoroke, Tābo Woriā!" _(2)

A beam shot out of the wings and a red robot that looks like of those Transformers appeared. (6) (ATK: 2500/DEF: 1500)

"It's still too weak to take on my Dark Strike Fighter!" Greiger shouted.

"Maybe not, but when Tuningware is used for a Synchro Summon, it enables me to draw another card straight to my hand! Or have you forgotten?"

"YUSEI HAS MANAGED TO SQUEEZE SOME MORE LIFE OUT OF HIS FLOUNDERING DECK!" the MC announced

"Go, Yusei!" Leo cheered

"You can do it!" Yanagi shouted.

"Make this count!" Tanner said.

_'Here we go.'_ Yusei thought, _'If I don't draw the card I need, Greiger's gonna run over the rest of my life points!'_ he focused all of his heart and soul into his next card. When Yusei drew and saw the card, he let out a smirk.

"That's your card, huh Yusei." Kurogasa wondered.

"I activate the Dead Synchron – Speed Spell!" Yusei announced, inserting the named Speed Spell. "And as long as I have 5 or more speed counters, I can use this spell to Synchro Summon from my Graveyard!"

"You what?" Greiger gasped.

"You heard me right! And I choose to tune Level 3 Junk Synchron and level 1 Tuningware for another Synchro Summon!"

_"Tsudoishi kokoro ga, aratana kagayaku chikara o motarasudeshou! Hikari sasu michi to nare! Shinkuro Shoukan! Danketsu, Āmuzu Eido!" _(3)

A large metal gauntlet appeared from the synchro-tunnel, flexing its blood-red fingers. (4) (ATK: 1800/DEF: 1200)

"Now I'll use Armory Arm's effect!" Yusei continued as Armory Arm's base gauntlet split apart and reassembled on Turbo Warrior's own gauntlet, increasing its power.

Turbo Warrior- (ATK: 3500/DEF: 1500)

"Now my Turbo Warrior gains 1000 more ATK points! And with that boost, my Turbo Warrior's more powerful than your Dark Strike Fighter! Also, when he attacks a monster over level 5, he can cut that monster's ATK in half!"

Greiger gasped.

"You know what's next! Turbo Warrior, attack!" Turbo Warrior's new weapon glowed with energy as it raced towards the Dark Strike Fighter. The fighter met the warrior's speed and advanced as well, but froze in fear as he was confronted by a glowing light, coming from its opponent, weakening him greatly.

Dark Strike Fighter- (ATK: 1300/DEF: 1900)

It had no time to escape as it was grasped by the hand. Its grip exerted more than enough gravity to crush the machine into a small iron ball and exploded.

**Grieger:** 0/**SPC:** 2

**Yusei:** 1400/**SPC:** 3

Greiger's runner spun out of control, but because of its large size, it toppled and sent its rider to the ground.

"He did it!" Tanner said.

"Yeah!" Luna cheered.

"I know he could pull it off!" Leo added.

"That was an amazing win!" Yanagi said.

"Hey, uh, if the duel's over, how come those spiky things haven't vanished yet?" Dexter asked.

Lazar and Goodwin watched the duel from their private box.

"Well, that's too bad." Lazar said.

"Yusei will wake up to his abilities as a Signer soon enough. We must be patient."

_'It's a good thing you lost, Greiger.'_ Jack thought as he stood from his seat. _'Now all Yusei has to do is win one more duel and then he and I can settle things once and for all.'_

"THAT'S IT PEOPLE!" the MC announced, "AFTER SIX ROUNDS OF WHITE-KNUCKLE ACTION, THIS DUEL HAS ROARED TO A CLOSE WITH A STUNNING FINALE! THE SATELLITE SHOOTING STAR HAS MANAGED TO WHIP OUT A COME-FROM-BEHIND WIN! TAKE A VICTORY LAP, YUSEI!"

Yusei stopped his own Runner further up the track and looked back up towards the fallen soldier, "Greiger, are you okay?"

"C'MON YUSEI, GIVE US A-"

"Yusei, I'm fine." Greiger said over a microphone he held. "But it's not over."

"What's going on?" Lazar exclaimed. "Someone turn his mic off!"

"Uh, ole-ole-oxen! Hello, is this thing even on?" the MC tried to talk over his mic, but no echo came out, "Testing, 123!"

"I was hoping to do this differently, but if it needs to be like this, so be it," Greiger explained, "I told you about my village, Yusei. I told you about the fire and the destruction. But I've learned the truth. Goodwin isn't going to help me rebuild my village like he promised! How could he when it isn't even there anymore?"

Yusei gasped. "What do you mean?"

"That's _my_ question." Kurogasa mused.

"Look!" Greiger pointed to the holographic sphere as it showed a nightly background over a quaint South American village. "That was my village, before Goodwin came along!"

"How's he doing that?" Lazar shouted angrily as he pressed his hands onto the glass wall. "Someone turn off the sphere!"

"Let him have his moment." Goodwin said calmly.

"HUH?" Lazar looked at him confused.

"I hacked into Goodwin's personal files before the duel, and discovered it wasn't a 'natural disaster'!" Greiger continued. "Goodwin came along and decided to use our valley as a little testing ground! He tried to resurrect his precious Crimson Dragon! But he couldn't control the energy. It was much too powerful. Then..." the sphere then showed the village being engulfed by a bright light, and replaced in burning ruins. The entire crowd responded in gasps and murmurs.

"No way… Goodwin did what?" Kurogasa said disturbingly shocked.

"He's going to exposed everything!" Lazar shouted. "We must silence him! ...Uh, aren't you concerned?"

"Don't worry," Goodwin mused, "Nobody's going to believe him."

Even Jack couldn't believe what he's seeing.

"My village is GONE!" Greiger cried. "Everyone who lived there, all gone! Vanished. Nowhere to be found."

"Greiger, are you sure about all off this?"

"I saw the files myself. I'm certain about it, Yusei. And now Goodwin's gonna answer for all his lies!" Greiger dropped the mic, rushed onto his duel runner, started the engine and began shooting around the track.

"Greiger!" Yusei pleaded.

"What is he doing?" Kurogasa exclaimed.

"Now that the world knows what you did, it's time for you to pay!" Greiger shouted. "For my friends! My family! My home!" images of Greiger's home and family ran through his mind; and that made Greiger's bloodlust for the Director even stronger. "YOU'RE IVORY TOWER IS ABOUT TO COME TUMBLING DOWN, GOODWIN!" His runner shot onto the crash barrier and off of it, shooting straight for Goodwin's tower!

"NO!" Yusei cried, his runner shooting off of the opposite side of the stadium.

"Yusei!" Greiger exclaimed surprisingly. The two runners smashed together in a scream of tortured metal, and one of the spiked axles was torn loose from Greiger's wheel axle, spinning rapidly as it hurtled towards Goodwin's tower. Goodwin's eye caught the spike crashing through the window and saw it coming right at him. He caught it with his left arm and managed to maintain its weight as it was still spinning!

"How are you doing that?" Jack couldn't believe what he was seeing. The metal spike ripped Goodwin's glove away and revealed a metal-coated hand! Greiger and Yusei's Duel Runners crashed onto the track below, their riders falling loose onto the ground. Greiger grabbed Yusei by the collar in rage, "How could you, Yusei? I had him!"

"I'm sorry!" Yusei replied, "I'm sorry that Goodwin lied and used you, but listen! Going after him won't solve anything; or get you your answers!"

"What do I do?"

"You'd trust me to figure things out."

Greiger let go of Yusei, clenching his fists as he screamed towards the heavens. "GOODWIIIIIIN!"

Back at the lounge, Kurogasa was in all shock to see all of this unfold. How could Goodwin, a good friend of his parents do such a thing like what Greiger just said? There's only one thing he had to do… get some answers. Without a word, he darted out of the lounge and went on his way to the tower where Goodwin was.

Whew! Got that done! It was a pain to do, but I got it done! Not to mention translating the Armory Arm was bad too. It took me forever to translate that. Again, thanks Duelist of Dawn for the duel.

(1)- Clustering fighting souls will awaken the raging wicked God! Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! Obliterate, Junk Destroyer!"

(2)- Clustering stars weave a greater force! Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! Rev your engines, Turbo Warrior!

(3)- Clustering hearts will bring forth a shining power! Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! Unite, Armory Arm!


	24. Chapter 22: Beyond the Rose

It is now time for the duel between Kurogasa and Akiza to begin. This is one chapter that I would definitely love to write. Know why? Because this chapter is the chapter that will start the OC x Akiza that I have put in my summary of this story. And… I plan to surprise you all with something in this chapter. You'll never expect this one coming. So get ready! This chapter is underway!

Disclaimer: Same thing, you know the routine.

Chapter 22: Beyond the Rose

Kurogasa darted down a hallway toward a couple unsuspecting security guards, in front of a pair of doors leading to the tower.

"Hey, hold it!"

"The Director's not expecting you!"

"Sorry, but he's got some explaining to do!" Kurogasa shouted. He dodged under the first guard's punch, back up a bit and then did a super kick on the first guard's chin (*1)! Then he knocked out the second guard by planting his right leg, spun around fast using his left leg as momentum, and jumped kicked him in the head using the right leg he planted(*2). With both guards knocked out cold, Kurogasa pushed open the double doors, and ran into the tower. A couple minutes later, he got to the top and there was Goodwin, Jack, and Lazar.

"Goodwin!" Kurogasa said.

"Ah, Kurogasa. What brings you here?" Goodwin greeted.

"Don't give me that shit! How come I've never heard of this? Is it really true that you destroyed Greiger's village when you tried to summon the Crimson Dragon? Is it? I'm not going anywhere until you tell me the truth!" Kurogasa shouted angrily. Goodwin sighed.

"Jack, Lazar, can you please give us a moment?" Goodwin asked. Jack then did as he was told and left the area and went to the hallway to give the two some privacy.

"So?" Kurogasa asked.

"This was supposed to be a secret, but I haven't lied to you once and I won't do it now. Yes, it's true. I destroyed Greiger's village in an attempt to summon the Crimson Dragon." Kurogasa's fear were true, he really_did _destroy Greiger's village.

"Why Goodwin? Why did you do that when you consciously know that there were going to be innocent people caught in it? You lied to him; you used and manipulated him, took away his home and his family! You played on Greiger's feelings! How could you!" Unfortunately, Goodwin couldn't give Kurogasa an answer to that one.

"And another thing, why did you just let that Koda guy insult Akiza all he wanted? She didn't deserve all that abuse! She's no different than any other person!"

"It was necessary so that we can confirm that she is a Signer."

"But still! She didn't deserve that! Also, you gave me your word that you wouldn't harm my friends from the Satellite! Where are they?"

"What are you talking about? I told you that they are safe and sound."

"Don't play dumb with me Goodwin! A contact of mine went to Satellite to check on them and see if they're alright. But they're not there! They could be anywhere by now! You gave your word Goodwin!"

"And I always _keep_ my word. Don't you trust me?"

"I don't even know if I _can_ trust you. I'm even starting to have doubts about this plan of yours of gathering the real Signers together, should the duels against the clones fail to resurrect the Crimson Dragon. Tell me Goodwin! Am I being used just like Greiger? Be honest with me." Goodwin's eyes widened when he asked that, but his eyes stayed calm.

"You know I would never do that to you. If your parents were standing here now, they probably wouldn't forgive me for that, now would they?"

"No, they probably wouldn't…" Kurogasa muttered almost instantly calming down.

"Plus, you chose to help me revive the Crimson Dragon and you chose to help Yusei and his friends. Those were your own decisions."

"But after everything that happened just now… is it even worth it?"

Goodwin couldn't give an answer to that question.

"I just… I just don't want any more lives lost..." Kurogasa said clenching fist turning his face away. Memories of his parent's death flashed through his mind. Goodwin puts on hand on Kurogasa's shoulder.

"Which is why we need to resurrect the Crimson Dragon, so that won't happen." Goodwin said. Kurogasa looked at Goodwin again.

"Just don't keep secrets from me okay…?" Kurogasa mumbled.

"It won't happen again. I assure you." Goodwin said. "Now I think it's time that you get ready for your duel." Goodwin said. Kurogasa slowly nodded and then left. Kurogasa walked out of the tower and went down the hallways. A few minutes later, he was in the hallways that led to either the duelist lounge or the main arena. _'Goodwin, I really hope what you said about not using me is true.'_ Kurogasa thought. He walked down a hallway for a while until he came up at a four-way intersection, he nearly runs into the duelist that will be his opponent, coming from the left. Akiza Izinski. Kurogasa gasped a little bit when he saw the dark-burgundy haired girl. The two imminent opponents stared at each other and stop, faces about a foot and a half away. Akiza scowled the moment she saw who it was.

"You… you're the one I dueled at the Daimon Area the other day." Akiza asked holding clutching onto her arm that held her birthmark. Seeing her in that position she was in, it reminded Kurogasa of how he first confronted her, how he first witnessed her horrible powers when he dueled her and was beaten down by her monsters...

"What are you doing here?" She asked.

"I'm here in this tournament like you. That aside, what's your deal with these marks of ours? Why do you think it's 'wretched' and that it must be banished from this world?"

"It just has to be! This mark has brought me nothing but pain! So what good can come from having more around? It's dangerous, so just keep away!" Akiza said showing actual fear in her eyes.

"Kurogasa!"

"There you are!"

The twins, Leo and Luna, followed by Yusei came up to Kurogasa.

"Kurogasa, your match is about to-" Leo began before he saw Akiza. "Ah! The Witch!" he exclaimed.

"Leo, she's not a Witch." Yusei said.

"Sorry, force of habit." Leo apologized. Luna is unnerved to meet Akiza's eyes, and not just because Akiza looks annoyed. Akiza looked aside.

"What's going on back here?" Vice-Director Lazar appeared from the last unoccupied hallway, approaching to the center. "Everybody getting along nicely? I must say, that was quite the duel just now, Miss Izinski. Very impressive. Before the last semi-final match gets underway, Director Goodwin has a few things he'd like to talk to you about. I'd say more, but it's confidential. Why don't you come with me, and we'll-"

"-Akiza must rest." from behind Akiza came Sayer, leader of the Acadia Movement, flanked by a pair of some of his henchmen wearing strange robes, having approached from behind as well.

"And you are...?"

"Don't play dumb, Lazar. Your reputation precedes you." Sayer's assistants stepped in front of Akiza, standing solidly between her and Lazar, while Sayer himself stood to the side. "We both know you don't like surprises, so let's not waste time pretending you haven't done your homework, like I have."

The Vice-Director just chuckled.

"Stay away from Akiza. And tell the Director she's not interested in what he has to say. Now excuse us..." Sayer raised a hand, and the two figures, Akiza, and he left in procession. Kurogasa watched, scowling with suspicion. Akiza didn't even look back. _'Something's not right with that guy. Whoever he is, I don't like anything about him one bit.'_

"Well. The Director will not be pleased with this atoll." Lazar pouted.

"What's the story?" Yusei questioned Lazar. "Goodwin; what's he want with Akiza?"

"Did you not get the memo, Mr. Fudo?" Lazar asked sarcastically. "I could've sworn we meant to keep you posted. So sorry about that..." then he turned to Kurogasa. "As for you, Mr. Kururugi, I suggest you prepare for your duel against Miss Akiza. Now if you would excuse me..." Lazar walked pass the group. Yusei, Kurogasa, and the twins watched Akiza and her entourage still walking away down the other corridor.

"That witch lady creeps me out." Leo admitted. Kurogasa then gave Leo the Gibbs slap on the back of his head (AN: If you watch NCIS, you'll know what I'm talking about).

"Ow, what was that for?" Leo snapped.

"I thought Yusei told you not to call Akiza a witch." Kurogasa said.

"I said I was sorry!"

"Then stop being an idiot about it and don't say it."

"Who are you calling an idiot?" Leo asked angrily balling up his fist.

"Guys c'mon, this is no time to fight." Yusei said being the moderator.

"She seems so sad..." Luna said sincerely. Yusei, Kurogasa, and Leo looked at Luna, seeing she was holding her arm like Akiza was. "Something wrong?" Kurogasa asked.

"Um... my arm kinda stings. Whenever that girl looks at me... I feel all weird..."

Kurogasa was actually not surprised by this. _'And I know why…'_ Kurogasa thought.

Meanwhile, Sayer was in a room watching the tournament until Akiza came in.

"It's time, Sayer." she said.

Sayer smiled as he stepped over to her and tenderly brushed a stray hair from her shoulder. His hands moved to her hair, where he fiddled with her hair-clip, "If you find yourself at a point where you feel like your power is about to take over, just remember that this energy stabilizer in your hair will limit your powers. The fate of the world is in your hands; we're all counting on you, Akiza."

Akiza spots her mask sitting on the coffee table, "What about my mask?"

"Take it. But you won't need it. And Akiza… about earlier, it's just- look, we've exposed the Movement by coming to this tournament, and people will want to know more. That Commander Koda almost exposed everything." he said, concerned.

"Okay; but I can speak for myself. I don't need you to babysit me or anything, Sayer!" Akiza replied. "I'm not going to betray the Movement. You guys are like my family now; I would never betray all of you."

"I'm so relieved to hear you say that. Goodwin and his people are part of the Order of Yliaster, a group seeking to resurrect a force known as the Crimson Dragon. If allowed to return, the Dragon will bring the world to its knees. That's where we come in. He Who Rules the Sky has given the members of the Arcadia Movement special powers; we are his chosen. We will stop Goodwin and lead the world down the right path."

"Sounds like a good time."

"Yes, well, speaking of time, you must be on your way for your duel with Kurogasa Kururugi." Akiza's right arm flinched at hearing his name. "He might be a member of Yliaster; we're not sure yet. Same goes for Yusei Fudo. Either way, it is crucial that you defeat both of them. Once you get through them, you can then bring Jack Atlas to his knees, and then the crowd's jeers will change to cheers and our time will finally come. You're ready, aren't you?"

"Of course." Akiza nodded and then she left the room, while walking, she was thinking about all the horrible things she had done, from when she attacked her father as a little girl, to when she abused her abilities while at Duel Academy, to the duel with Kurogasa. She looked at her arm that bore her wretched mark. She grips her arm, teeth clenched, face filled with anger and hate.

Meanwhile, Kurogasa sat in the duelist lounge alone, looking over his deck checking each card. As he was doing this, he was thinking too, but mostly about Akiza. _'I got to make sure I'm ready to face Akiza.' _He thought, going over the duel he had with her in the Daimon Area and her duel against Koda. '_My deck maybe ready to take on her combos she tried earlier: Rose Tentacles and her Ivy Tokens and then her Black Garden with Rose Flame. In fact, there's a possibility to combine them both. But knowing her, since I've seen them both, she'll try something else. After all, Plant-type monsters used to be an unsupported type before seeing her deck.'_ Finally, his thoughts turned to his opponent's signature monster. '_Then there's Black Rose Dragon... There's no telling how she'll use that against me this time...'_

After finishing his deck, he leaned back on the couch and started at the ceiling.

"I think I get why she's angry at the world, but I thought by now she'd get some help for it." He said out loud. "Something must've happened with her parents, but I won't go into that with her... and it may be her trigger. And the guy she left with... she seems to trust him, yet if that's her help, I'd figure she'd be better. And it's not like the people are making it any better, shouting those insults and misunderstanding her... no one deserves that..."

Suddenly, he heard on the intercom...

"_WILL KUROGASA KURURUGI PLEASE REPORT TO THE DUELING FIELD?"_

The Haos duelist stood up and grabbed his deck and disk before heading out with final words to himself...

'_One thing's for sure, it's going to be more than just a duel and surviving her powers... that wall she created needs to be torn down, so I can help her. And I'll do whatever it takes to do that.'_

"AND NOW LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! IT IS TIME FOR THE LAST SEMI-FINAL DUEL! INTRODUCING FIRST IS THE MYSTERIOUS BLACK ROSE, AKIZA IZINSKI!" The MC announced. Smoke cannons go off, shooting four columns of it into the air. Akiza entered via elevator platform, only to widespread the jeers.

"Go home, witch!" One person shouted.

"You're gonna lose, you freak!" Another yelled.

"CHALLENGING HER, IS THE LIGHT LORD OF THE SATELLITE SECTOR, KUROGASA KURURUGI!" more smoke-cannons fired on the opposite side. Kurogasa appeared via elevator platform as well.

"Beat that Witch, Satellite!" One spectator shouted.

"You better win this one!" Another said.

"My goodness, they say such mean things." Yanagi cried. "Why are kids so cruel? She's just a child!"

"People don't understand her special abilities." Tanner explained. "And when people don't understand something they see, they tend to be afraid of it."

"So, if everyone's so afraid of her, why are they here to watch her duel?" Leo asked.

"That's easy, Leo. They're all hoping that she'll lose. See, when people are afraid of something, they don't like to be alone. So sometimes, they'll band together, hoping to see that _something_ feel bad, which makes_them_ feel good."

"Wow, talk about seeing the glass half-empty, Tanner." Dexter replied. Luna is looking at the floor again, worried. Luna hears a fearful cooing. A ghostly image of Kuribon appeared.

"_So you're scared too, Kuribon? Something bad is going to happen, isn't it… Kurogasa, please be careful."_

Meanwhile, Sayer was watching from an entrance to the stands. _'This is our moment Akiza, seize this opportunity and introduce to the world, the true power of the Arcadia Movement…'_

"THE WINNER OF THIS MATCH WILL FACE YUSEI FUDO IN A FINAL MATCH! AND THEN, THE WINNER OF _THAT _MATCH WILL FACE JACK ATLAS FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP! ALRIGHT DUELISTS, ACTIVATE YOUR DUEL DISKS AND LET'S GET THIS STARTED!" The MC instructed. Akiza activated her red duel disk. The platform extended and the 2 monster zones tucked in the three monster zones came out. Kurogasa also activated his duel disk. The angel-wing like monster zones came out spreading like angel wings, moved to the front of the circular part of the disk and snapped together in the middle. Both duelists then drew their starting hand.

"DUEL!"

**Kurogasa:** 4000

**Akiza: **4000

"I hope you don't mind, but ladies first. Watashi no ta-n! Doro!" Akiza said and drew her sixth card. "I play my Double Summon spell card, letting me summon twice this turn. I summon my Lonefire Blossom in attack mode!" A plant with two stems twisted together with purple leaves and a small white bomb on top appeared (3) (ATK: 500/DEF: 1400). "Then I'll activate its special ability! Once per turn, I can tribute a face up Plant-type monster to special summon one from my deck. So now, I sacrifice my Lonefire Blossom to special summon Tytannial, Princess of Camellias!" The white bomb flower exploded and smoke filled the area. When it cleared, what replaced it was a woman covered in leaves and rose petals and a big rose with big leaves served as the base (8) (ATK: 2800/DEF: 2600).

"Great… just what I need." Kurogasa groaned.

"WHOA! THE BLACK ROSE HAS JUST SUMMONED A VERY POWERFUL MONSTER ON HER VERY FIRST TURN! THIS IS NOT GOOD FOR KUROGASA!" The MC announced.

"I'm not done yet. I still have to summon my second monster thanks to Double Summon. I now summon my Twilight Rose Knight!" Kurogasa gasped at this as the teenage knight with short, pale blue hair, dressed in jet-black plate armor and white cape, and wielding a short sword appeared. (3) (ATK: 1000/DEF: 1000)

"Oh man! Already?" Leo exclaimed.

"This is bad!" Tanner said gritting his teeth. "With that on the field, she can special summon a level 4 or lower Plant-type monster from her hand!"

"And when that happens…" Dexter began.

"That scary Black Rose Dragon will appear! Let's get out of here!" Yanagi shrieked jumping out of his seat clutching on to Tanner as if he's holding on to dear life.

"Get off of me!" Tanner shouted trying to pry the old man off.

Luna just looked with worry on her face.

At the lounge, Yusei was watching the duel as well. He had a stoic look on his face, but there was worry in him.

"And when Normal summoned, I can summon another Plant-Type that's level 4 or below from my hand!" She announced, placing another card on the field. "And I think my Lord Poison will do!" A wood like creature with claw and spike-like features on its body with a ghost-like tail appeared (4) (ATK: 1500/DEF: 1000).

"UH-OH! WE ALL KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT FROM HERE!" The MC announced. Most of the people then started to leave. "WHOA! IT LOOKS LIKE THE FANS ARE RUNNING FOR THE EXITS! AND WHO COULD BLAME THEM, ESPECIALLY AFTER WITNESSING THE BLACK ROSE'S DESTRUCTIVE POWER IN HER LAST DUEL!"

"Now I tune my level 4 Lord Poison with my level 3 Rose Knight!" Akiza declared as the knight unsheathed her sword and turned into 3 green rings and Lord Poison turned into 4 spheres of light. The stars then lined up in the tunnel of rings. Kurogasa braced himself as Akiza chanted.

"_Tsumetai honoo ga sekai no subete wo tsutsumikomu! Shikkoku no hana yo, hirake!_ _Shinkuro Shoukan! Araware o, Burakku Roozu Doragon!"_

A beam shot out of the rings and in place, the black dragon with rose petals as its wings with black thorn whips appeared (7) (ATK: 2400/DEF: 1800). Kurogasa stared at that dragon head-on and was showing a little bit of fear.

"IT'S HERE! THE BLACK ROSE DRAGON HAS APPEARED ALREADY! WITH TWO POWERFUL MONSTERS STARING DOWN AT KUROGASA, HOW WILL HE COUNTER?"

"You're lucky that I can't attack on this turn. So I'll end it." Akiza concluded.

"Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa said and drew his sixth card. "I summon my Haos Manion to the field in attack mode!" The white sphinx-like creature appeared on the field (3) (ATK: 1350/DEF: 1000). "Next I'll play my Rapid Haos spell card! As long as there's a light attribute monster on the field, I can special summon another one from my hand or deck. So now I special summon my Haos Robattalion from my deck!" The white and yellow robot-like fighter appeared (2) (ATK: 900/DEF: 400). "Next I activate another spell card from my hand, Natural Tune! This makes any one of my monsters a Tuner, so now I make Robattalion one!" Green energy from the spell card transferred to the robot giving it the powers of a tuner. And now I'll tune my level 3 Manion with my level 2 Robattalion!" The robot turned into 2 green rings and Manion into 3 stars. The stars lined up in the 2 rings.

"_Zetsubō no yami no fuka-sa kara, kibō no hikari wa, sukui o go an'nai sa sete! Shinkuro Shoukan! Araware o, Haos Blade Tigrerra!"_

A beam shot out of the rings and engulfed the rings. When the light faded, a white tiger with black stripes standing and large fangs with gold armor attached to it with long blade-like spikes sticking out of the armor appeared (5) (ATK: 2000/DEF: 2000).

"Now for its special effect! Once it's summoned successfully, I can swap her attack points with one of your monsters attack points until the end of my turn. Tigrerra, swap attack points with Tytannial, Princess of Camellias!" Kurogasa commanded. Tigrerra and Tytannial's energies began to switch places, as their attack points began to swap.

"I won't let you! I activate her special ability! I can sacrifice a face-up Plant-type monster to negate a Monster effect, spell, or trap card and destroy it! So I sacrifice my Tytannial to negate your monster's effect and destroy Blade Tigrerra!" The plant princess shot out vines with thorns from its rose base and wrapped it around the white tiger. The tiger roared in pain as the thorns were digging in its body before it was destroyed. The plant princess then disappeared.

"WHAT A COUNTER! THAT TIGER HAS ALREADY LOST ITS NINE LIVES WITH THAT MOVE! WHAT IS KUROGASA GOING TO DO NOW?"

"I'll end my turn with a facedown card." Kurogasa finished.

"Watashi no ta-n!" Akiza declared drawing her next card. "I summon my Botanical Lion in attack mode!" A cat creature with red flower petals as its lion mane, wood as its body and a leaf on the tip of its tail appeared (4) (ATK: 1600/DEF: 2000). "And with this card, it gains 300 attack points for every Plant-type on the field."

Botanical Lion- (ATK: 1900/DEF: 2000)

"Now Botanical Lion, attack his life points directly with Botanical Slash!" Akiza ordered. The lion ran towards Kurogasa and slashed at his chest with its branch-like claws. Kurogasa screamed in pain as it ripped his shirt and his skin. His friends gasped at the sight. Kurogasa held on to his chest and backed off a couple feet as a little blood trickled from the scratch marks.

**Kurogasa:** 2100

**Akiza: **4000

"AND THE BLACK ROSE DREW FIRST BLOOD WITH THAT ATTACK! LITERALLY!" The MC announced.

"Now Black Rose Dragon, attack his life points directly with Black Rose Flare and end this duel!" Akiza commanded. The rose petal dragon breathed purple flames and rose petals at Kurogasa. Kurogasa managed to press a button on his disk despite being in pain.

"I activate my Defense Draw trap card! With this on the field, I receive zero damage, plus I get to draw a card from my deck!" Kurogasa said. An invisible shield formed all around Kurogasa blocking the attack and then Kurogasa drew one card.

"AND KUROGASA MANAGES TO HANG IN THERE! TALK ABOUT CUTTING IT CLOSE!" The MC announced.

"I'll end my turn with a face down." Akiza said inserting the facedown into her disk. Kurogasa was breathing heavily as he was trying to recuperate from the first attack. He then placed his bloody hand on his deck.

"Ore no… ta-n…" Kurogasa said and drew his next card. "I summon my Haos Centipoid in defense mode…" Kurogasa muttered placing the card gently on the disk. A large white centipede appeared and was crouching in defense (2) (ATK: 800/DEF: 1000). "And I'll end my turn with a face down." Kurogasa said placing a face down on his disk.

"How disappointing. Watashi no ta-n!" Akiza said drawing her next card. Now Botanical Lion, attack his Centipoid with Botanical Slash!" The lion ran towards the insect and slashed at it. The centipede screeched before turning into shattered pixels.

"You activated its special ability! When Centipoid is destroyed, the attacking monster goes with it!" Kurogasa said. The lion glowed white all over and it roared in pain before it shattered into pixels as well.

"No matter, Black Rose Dragon, attack his life points directly again!" Akiza commanded. The dragon did the same attack like last time.

"I activate the trap, Negate Attack! This stops your attack and ends the battle phase immediately!" Kurogasa said. A clear vortex appeared in front of Kurogasa absorbing the attack in.

"I'll end my turn." Akiza finished.

Kurogasa was standing there for a while. '_I gotta think fast. I don't know if I can last this long.'_ Kurogasa thought. _'No, I can't think like that, I gotta tear down that wall Akiza's made. I have to help her somehow.'_

"Are you gonna stand there and think or are you going to duel?" Akiza snapped.

"Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa announced as he drew his next card. "I play Spellbook Inside the Pot! This lets both of us draw three cards!" Kurogasa said. Both duelists then did as the card instructed. "Then I play Pot of Greed, letting me draw two more cards." He said next, and then drew two more. '_Nice, I can play these cards.'_ "I play _my _Double Summon spell card, letting summon twice this turn. So now I summon Haos El Condor and Haos Siege to the field in attack mode!" The white knight with his staff appeared (4) (ATK: 1900/DEF: 1400) and then the white shaman creature with the large Aztec mask appeared (ATK: 1300/DEF: 1100). "And when El Condor is successfully summoned to the field, I can change the level of any one of my monsters. So I change my Haos Siege's level to 3!" El Condor's energy transferred from it to the knight.

Haos Siege's level: 3

"And now I tune my level 3 El Condor with my level 3 Siege!" Kurogasa commanded. El Condor turned into 3 green rings and Siege turned into 3 stars. The stars lined up in the tunnel of rings.

"_Ten no houshakou ha, kurayami no ue ni kagayaki, subete no eien no tame ni sore o fusshoku suru! Shinkuro Shoukan! Migaki ni, Haos Ancient Nemus!"_

A beam of light shot out of the rings and the male angelic warrior with a staff appeared in defense mode (6) (ATK: 2400/DEF: 2000). "And I activate Nemus's special ability! Once per turn, I can bring back a monster from my graveyard, so I bring back my Haos Siege! Go, Divine Light!" Nemus shined his staff on the ground and sure enough, the knight was back on the field. "Next I play Attribute Change, changing an attribute of a Monster and I change Black Rose Dragon's attribute to dark!" The dragon's colors changed from red to black. "Now I play this! Darkus and Haos Correlation! It can only work if there's a light and dark attribute monster on the field. The dark attribute monster loses 1000 attack points while the light attribute monster gains it! So I transfer it to Siege!" Energy from the dragon went from it to the knight.

Black Rose Dragon- (ATK: 1400/DEF: 1800)

Haos Siege- (ATK: 2900/DEF: 1400)

"Why do that to Siege and not Nemus?" Yanagi questioned.

"Don't ya get it gramps? Nemus's ability is to bring a monster back from the graveyard once per turn. He probably wants Nemus around so he could to build up his army of monsters. And the reason it's probably in defense rose is because Akiza's probably got a trap waiting that could destroy Nemus."

"Like Mirror Force?" Dexter asked.

"Possibly."

"Now Haos Siege, attack her Black Rose Dragon now!" Kurogasa commanded. The knight charged at the dragon with its staff ready to stab.

"I activate my Mirror Force trap card! It sends your attack right back at you!" Akiza announced. The knight was about to stab the dragon until it hit an invisible mirror. The mirror shattered forcing Siege back and was destroyed into pixels, but Nemus was safe.

"It's a good thing Kurogasa has Nemus in defense mode. Otherwise, it's over." Leo said.

"I'll end my turn with a face down." Kurogasa said putting his last card from his hand to the disk.

"Watashi no ta-n!" Akiza drew. "You know, I gotta thank you for playing the Spellbook Inside the Pot card, because now I can play this, my Seed of Deception spell card! I can special summon a level 2 or lower monster from my hand, so I special summon my Dark Verger!" A two leaf-plant with two eyes grew out of the seed (2) (ATK: 0/DEF: 1000). "And now I release Dark Verger to advance summon my Rose Tentacles!" A two leaf plant disappeared and replacing it was a large rose with a lot of thorny tentacles (6) (ATK: 2200/DEF: 1200).

"Next I activate Black Rose Dragon's ability! Once per turn, I remove a Plant-type monster from my graveyard and then one of my opponent's monsters gets switched to attack mode and that monster's attack drops to zero. And I think Nemus fits that."

"That's not good!" Tanner exclaimed.

"If that happens, Kurogasa will lose!" Dexter added.

"So now I remove my Lord Poison from my graveyard and Nemus's attack points drop to zero!" Akiza said as she puts the Lord Poison card in her pocket and Nemus switch modes. Not to mention his attack points are now at zero.

Haos Ancient Nemus- (ATK: 0/DEF: 2000).

"NO!" Kurogasa cried.

"Now Black Rose Dragon, attack Nemus Black Rose Flare!" Akiza ordered. The dragon breathed purple flames and rose petals out of its mouth and destroyed Nemus. Some of the flames went to Kurogasa and he screamed in pain as the flames were burning him alive.

"KUROGASA!" The twins screamed in horror.

**Kurogasa: **700

**Akiza: **4000

When the flames died, some of his jacket had burnt holes in it. And to everyone's surprise, Kurogasa was still standing despite of what just happened.

"THIS IS UNBELIVABLE! HE COULDN'T HAVE SURVIVED THAT ATTACK! HOW MUCH MORE PUNISHMENT IS THE BLACK ROSE GOING TO GIVE HIM? AKIZA IS-" The MC announced.

"A witch!"

"It's true!"

"That girl's a witch!"

"Cheater!"

"She's dangerous!"

"This will finish you off. Rose Tentacles attack and end this duel with Rose Retaliation!" Akiza said.

"THIS IS IT! IF THIS ATTACK GOES THROUGH, AKIZA WINS!" The MC announced. The thorny tentacle was going for Kurogasa. "I activate… Nutrient Z! If I'm about to take 2000 or more points of damage, then I then get 4000 life points before the attack hits!" Kurogasa said. A small bottle appeared in Kurogasa's hand. He quickly opened up the bottle and downed the contents before throwing it away. It increased his life points, but not his health.

**Kurogasa: **4700

**Akiza: **4000

The tentacle wrapped around Kurogasa tightly while the thorns dug into his flesh. Kurogasa cried in pain as this was happening. The bindings lift him slowly into the air.

"Look at you up there, hopeless and alone!" Akiza shouted. "No one can help you and no one wants to! Now you know what it feels like to be me in this cruel, cold world!"Kurogasa opens an eye and stares at Akiza, and what he saw disturbingly shocked him! When he looked closer, he saw a mildly insane smile on her face! 'She's smiling... She's actually enjoying my pain!-' Kurogasa was snapped out of his thought, as the vines jerked, and the Rose Tentacles slammed the Satellite hard into the ground!

**Kurogasa: **2500

**Akiza: **4000

"KUROGASA!" Tanner and group cried.

"This is getting bad… he's going to get killed out there if this keeps up." Yusei said with worry.

When the dust cleared, Kurogasa was barely trying to get up as there were in his shirt, jacket, and pants. Blood stained his clothes once again and he was coughing out blood.

"I'll end my turn with a face down." Akiza finished.

"I think I understand it now…" he realized. "Why you're attacking like this."

"Really? And what would that be?"

"Because of how the people treated you, you want their pain to make you feel better."

"...You're right. And for the rest of this duel, I really plan on making myself feel better!"

"No. Not like this. You can't duel like this Akiza. I know the world's been cruel to you because of your mark and your psychic powers, but retaliating back won't do you any good! I want to help you Akiza."

"Save it! I don't need your help!"

"Yes you do. More than anything. And I'll use every card in my deck to do that. Ore no… ta-n!" Kurogasa said as he drew his card with his bloody hand. "I play my Card of Sanctity! Both of us draw, until we have six cards in our hand!" Akiza drew three and Kurogasa drew the full six. "Now I play Monster Reborn, bringing back my Haos Ancient Nemus to the field in defense mode!" Kurogasa said. An ankh was shining above them. The ankh glowed and Nemus was back on the field. "Then I activate his special ability, allowing me to bring back a monster from my graveyard, so now I bring back Haos El Condor!" The shaman returned by the powers of Nemus. "Then I summon my Haos Ravenoid to the field in attack mode! A white and yellow humanoid raven-like creature appeared (4) (ATK: 1500/DEF: 1200).

"Now I'll tune my level 3 El Condor with my level 4 Ravenoid!" The process of the synchro summoning started to happen again.

"_Kurai kokoro no okusoko kara, sono megumi to anata no kokoro ni hikari o kagayaka seru! Shinkuro Shoukan! Araware o, Haos Lars Lion!"_

A beam of light shot out of the rings and the female angelic warrior appeared (7) (ATK: 2500/DEF: 2000).

"And when she's successfully summoned, all monster's on my side of the field gain an extra 500 attack points!"

Haos Ancient Nemus- (ATK: 2900/DEF: 2000)

Haos Lars Lion- (ATK: 3000/DEF: 2000)

"Now Lars Lion, attack Rose Tentacles with Sagittarius Arrow!" Kurogasa commanded. Lars Lion formed a bow from her wrist using light energy. She then formed an arrow of light from her hand and then fired it at the rose. The rose monster was destroyed in no time.

**Kurogasa: **2500

**Akiza: **3200

"AT LAST, EVEN THOUGH IT'S NOT MUCH, KUROGASA IS STARTING TO FIGHT BACK!" The MC announced.

"Finally, he managed to do some damage." Dexter said.

"Yeah, but who knows how long he can last." Tanner added.

"C'mon Kurogasa, you can do this!" Leo cheered.

"I'll end my turn with two facedowns." Kurogasa concluded.

"Watashi no ta-n!" Akiza declared and drew a card. "I reveal my face down, Synchro Back! I return one synchro monster to my extra deck and then I can summon it back during my next standby phase. And who better than my Black Rose Dragon!" Akiza said as the rose petal dragon disappeared.

"Why do that?" Yanagi asked.

"It means, once it's back on the field, it'll be at full power." Tanner said.

"And now I summon my Phoenixian Seed!" Uprooting from the ground, a dark red seed appeared with red leaves growing from the top and roots from the bottom. It opened its eyes to reveal a beige eye. (2) (ATK: 800/DEF: 0) "And then, by sending it to the graveyard, I can summon Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis from my hand!" Then, the seed started to grow to immense size, into a large plant monster with golden branches hanging from the side, crimson leaves up top and finally a head in the shape of a phoenix. (8) (ATK: 2200/DEF: 0) "I'm not done yet, I play my Mark of the Rose spell card! I remove a Plant-type monster from my graveyard and then I can control one of your monsters. So now, I control your Haos Lars Lion!" Akiza removed Twilight Rose Knight from play. A rose mark appeared on the female angelic warrior's cheek and then suddenly it went over to Akiza's side of the field.

"Now Lars Lion, attack his Nemus with Sagittarius Arrow!" Akiza commanded. The angelic warrior from a bow from her wrist and then fired an arrow of light energy at Nemus.

"I activate _my _Mirror Force, sending it right back at you!" Kurogasa shouted. An invisible mirror formed in front of Nemus. The mirror shattered sending the shards and light energy back at Lars Lion and Amaryllis and both were destroyed.

"But when Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis is destroyed, you take 800 points of damage!" Akiza countered. The cluster exploded and pelted a hail of burning seeds down on Kurogasa. He yelled in pain as the burning seeds touched his skin.

**Kurogasa: **1700

**Akiza: **3200

"And now during my end phase, I can remove a Plant-type monster from my graveyard to revive Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis in defense mode!" Akiza removed Botanical Lion and the cluster reappeared back in defense mode.

"I'll end my turn with that." Akiza said.

"Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa said and drew a card. "I play Card of Demise! I draw until I have 5 cards in my hand, but on my fifth turn, I discard my entire hand to the graveyard." Kurogasa then drew cards until he had 5 in his card. "I activate the field spell, Haos Reactor!" Kurogasa said. An extra angel wing extended out on his right end of the disk and inserted the field spell. Suddenly, orbs of different colors of light rose from the ground. "And for every light monster summoned, it gains 500 attack points. Now I activate Nemus's ability, so I bring back Haos El Condor back to the field!" The shaman then reappeared once again. "And since I special summoned El Condor back on the field, it gains an extra 500 power

"Haos El Condor- (ATK: 1800/DEF: 1100).

"Next I play Demotion! It lowers a monster's level by 2 so now I lower Nemus's level by two!"

Haos Ancient Nemus's Level: 4

"Then I activate the Synchro Boost spell card! It can increase a monster attack by 500 and raise the level by one, and I choose Nemus!"

Haos Ancient Nemus- (5) (ATK: 3400/DEF: 2000)

"Now I'll tune my level 5 Nemus with my level 3 El Condor!" El Condor turned into three green rings and Nemus turned into 5 stars. The stars lined up in the tunnel of rings.

"_Shinzou no tamashii ga, piasu no hikari o kensaku to yami o uchikudaku! Shinkuro Shokan! Araware o, Haos Omega Leonidas!"_

In a beam of light, Kurogasa's white and yellow colored ace dragon appeared (8) (ATK: 3000/DEF: 2500). The dragon roared as the light from the Haos Reactor shined brightly making it look majestic.

"AND KUROGASA'S ACE MONSTER FINALLY APPEARED ON THE FIELD!" The MC announced.

"Awesome! His ace monster appeared!" Leo exclaimed happily.

"Nice! Now he's got something to use against Akiza." Tanner smiled.

In the private box…

"Well, it's about time he did some fighting back." Jack said.

In another part of the stands…

"What kind of dragon is that? I've never seen that one before…" Sayer mused.

In the lounge…

"Nice Kurogasa. Now you can fight back with your own dragon." Yusei said.

"And since he was special summoned, Haos Reactor activates!" Kurogasa said.

Haos Omega Leonidas- (ATK: 3500/DEF: 2500)

"Now I'll summon my Turbo Booster in defense mode." Kurogasa putting the card on the platform. Rally's favorite machine monster appeared on the field (1) (ATK: 0/DEF: 0).

"What the- How did _he_ get Turbo Booster? And more confusing, why did he summon it?" Yusei wondered.

"Now Leonidas, attack her Cluster Amaryllis with Omega Eraser!" Kurogasa commanded. Leonidas got all on all fours, opened up its mouth and fired a huge laser beam from it. It destroyed the phoenix plant in no time.

"Don't forget my Amaryllis's effect! Once it's destroyed, you take 800 points of damage!" Akiza shouted as the cluster exploded and burning seeds pelted on Kurogasa. He cried in pain as the burnt seeds were burning him.

**Kurogasa: **900

**Akiza: **3200

Kurogasa's legs were shaking a little bit, but he's still staying strong.

"I'll place this facedown… and end my turn." Kurogasa concluded.

"Watashi no ta-n!" Akiza said and drew a card. "Now thanks to Synchro Back, my Black Rose Dragon comes back on the field with full power!" Akiza said as the rose petal dragon appeared back on the field.

"GET READY LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! THESE TWO DRAGONS ARE ABOUT TO DO BATTLE!" The MC announced.

Suddenly, Akiza's mark and Kurogasa's fake mark glowed. As soon as it appeared, Akiza groans as her mark pulsed again. Akiza looked at it with anger.

"Your mark! It's glowing!" Kurogasa said.

"And I wish it was gone! It has caused me nothing but pain and I'll always be a Witch with this wretched mark!" Akiza growled.

"You're wrong. Having that mark doesn't make you a Witch Akiza. Sure, when I first met you, I felt those hits from the Daimon Area, but now that I see you under the mask, you're no different from any other person. You don't have to be enemies with me! I _could _be your friend."

"Having a friend isn't a choice. Because my powers could hurt others. I just can't do it. It's something that I can never do. And that's why it's so much easier to wear a mask; it's amazing how little you care about other people when you can live behind a wall of plaster and paint, even if it is only the size of your face."

"Having a friend is something you _can_ do. You just have to open up to others. I'm more than willing to help you with that."

"No. You can't help me. No one can…" Akiza said and she pulled out her plaster mask and held it to her face.

"Don't you dare wear that mask Akiza!" Kurogasa shouted.

"I've already made my decision. I... need the mask. Without it, it's too... easy to be hurt." That was the last thing she said before she put it on and now standing before Kurogasa was the Black Rose.

"Nice mask, Scaredy-Cat!" One spectator taunted.

"Happy Halloween!" Another sneered.

"Akiza! Listen to me!"

"NO! You listen! This discussion is over!" Masses of psychic energy caused the hairpiece Akiza had, to fall to the ground, uncurling her six long tentacle-like bangs over her face. "Now I activate Black Rose Dragon's ability! I discard a Plant-type monster from play and one of your monster's attack points drop to zero and gets switched to attack mode! And I'll choose your Haos Omega Leonidas!" Akiza removed Lonefire Blossom from play and then Leonidas's attack points dropped to zero.

Haos Omega Leonidas- (ATK: 0/DEF: 2500)

"Oh no!" Luna cried.

"This is not good!" Dexter cried as well.

"I can't watch!" Yanagi said turning around and closing his eyes.

"This is over if this attack hits!" Tanner said.

"Watch out!" Leo cried.

"THIS IS IT LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, IF THIS IS SUCCESFUL, AKIZA WILL ADVANCE TO THE FINALS!" The MC announced.

"This is the end for you! Black Rose Dragon, attack with Black Rose Flare!" Akiza yelled. Black Rose Dragon spread its rose petal wings, opened up its mouth and breathed purple flames and rose petals at Kurogasa's dragon! The dragon roared in pain before shattering into pixels. The flames went over to Kurogasa and he was screaming in pain as this happened. Then…

BOOM!

"KUROGASA!" His friend cried.

Black Rose Dragon stopped the attack. When the dust cleared, Kurogasa was… still standing! Most of his white jacket, some of his gold shirt, and a little of his pant had burnt holes in it. Kurogasa was panting very heavily and was trying to stay up with all the strength he still had. Everyone had a shocked look on their face. Even when they saw the score.

**Kurogasa: **660

**Akiza: **3200

"But how?" Yusei asked.

"WHOA! I DON'T BELIEVE WHAT I'M SEEING FOLKS! FOR SOME REASON, KUROGASA IS STILL STANDING! HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?" The MC announced incredulously.

"That's what I want to know!" Lazar said.

"He couldn't have survived that!" Jack shouted. Even Akiza demanded an explanation.

"How can you still stand?" Akiza asked. The dust cleared up more to reveal a trap card that was activated. It showed a picture of two hands surrounded by some kind of barrier.

"I activated… my Reduction Barrier…" Kurogasa panted. "The damage I took is now divided by 10."

"THIS IS INCREDIBLE! IT'S THE SEMI-FINALS AND THIS IS THE MOST INTENSE DUEL WE'VE SEEN YET!" The MC announced.

"Now I'll activate… my other trap… Miracle's Wake…!" Kurogasa said. "With this trap, I can bring back the monster that was destroyed during the battle phase. So I bring back Leonidas…" He added. A huge dark cloud hovered over Kurogasa. Then a ray of light shone from the cloud and Leonidas descended from the cloud.

"Oh man, talk about close!" Leo said.

"Yeah." Luna agreed.

"I can't believe he's holding out this long." Tanner said.

"Why? Why can't you admit defeat?" Akiza shouted. Kurogasa was silent for a while still panting trying to recover from the last attack.

"I'm just bad at losing, I guess. Akiza… you don't have to do this. You don't have to hurt other people. I know people have hurt you because of your powers and all, but that doesn't mean that you have to hurt them back. Two wrongs don't make it right. Please Akiza; let me be your friend."

"SHUT UP! Why do you even care? You don't even know anything about me! You don't understand the pain I'm going through. No one understands me... I just wanted a normal life, but I can't have one. I tried to ignore all the name-calling and teasing, but it's no use. Destruction has followed me wherever I go. The more I ran the more people I hurt. You have no idea what I have to go through! My parents abandoned me, my classmates rejected me, and all of them hated me. All my life, I have lived in loneliness and despair. That is something you have never gone through and will never understand! Kurogasa was silent for a while. All he did was bow his head down with his bangs covering his eyes.

"I _do_ understand..." Kurogasa muttered.

"What?"

"I know what you're going through. Even _now_, I'm going through what you're going through." Yusei and Yusei's friends were just confused at what he was saying. "I may not know the pain of being rejected or hated, but I _do_ know the pain of loneliness. I lived with that loneliness for 10 years." Akiza, for some reason gasped at that. "That loneliness all started when my parents died. I loved my parents very much. They were the center of my universe... until that universe was gone in a car crash..." His friends were shocked to hear what he just said. "I was the only one who survived. When I heard about my parents, I fell into despair. I never felt so alone in my entire life..."

"Kurogasa..." Luna said sadly.

'_What's up with Kurogasa? I've never seen him act this way.'_ Yusei thought, but then his eyes widen when he realized it. '_Wait a minute, could he have-'_

"After the accident, Goodwin took me in. I guess you could say he's the only family I have left. I'll never forget everything he did for me." Kurogasa said raising his head up and looking at the tower where Goodwin was in, smiling a little bit and then frown a little and puts his head down again with his bangs covering his eyes once more. "For the past 10 years, I was alone. I've locked myself out from the outside world. Besides Goodwin, I've never had anyone to be with or to talk to. Then, after some events happened, up until now, I met Yusei. And soon I met his other friends Rally, Blitz, Tank, Nervin, and then I met Tanner, Yanagi, Dexter, Leo, and Luna. They're the first friends I've ever made…"

"Kurogasa..." Yusei said quietly.

"But I'm still suffering from that loneliness... even though I've been blessed with having many friends..." Kurogasa then puts a hand over his chest and clenched hid fist tight like he was holding on to his heart and was shaking a little bit. "I'm still cursed with the memory of my parent's death... It still hurts..." He shed a single tear and that tear drop streamed down his cheek before it dropped on the top card of his deck.

"That's why... as of now, I'm making a vow." Kurogasa said wiping his tear and raising his head back up. "I vow that I won't let anyone experience that pain again. Especially you Akiza. With this duel I'll do whatever I can and I'll do everything in my power to help you and be your friend. Even if it means giving up my life..." Just then, Kurogasa's fake birthmark shined very brightly. Kurogasa looked at it in surprise. Goodwin noticed something was up.

"What the-"

Soon, Akiza's mark glowed brightly as well.

"What is this?" Akiza demanded as she saw her mark of the Crimson Dragon's front claw.

At the lounge...

"This mark..." Yusei muttered seeing the mark of the Crimson Dragon's Tail.

At the private box...

"What in blazes?" Jack asked as he saw the Mark of the Crimson Dragon's Wings.

At the stands...

"What's going on?" Luna asked as she was seeing the mark o the Crimson Dragon's rear claw.

"Luna, your arm's glowing!" Leo said.

"Whoa... No wonder you've been constantly looking at it." Dexter said in awe.

"You're a Signer Luna?" Yanagi exclaimed.

Somewhere far away...

In a small canister was an arm. And on that arm was the mark of the Crimson Dragon's Head and it was shining brightly too. And then it disappeared.

Back on the field...

Kurogasa's fake birthmark shined very brightly for a few more seconds until it completely changed. Particles of the fake mark disappeared and a new mark took its place. The mark was a semi-circle with mini wings at the end of it making it look like the Greek letter Omega.

"A new mark?" Kurogasa asked himself. Goodwin's eyes widened with shock when he saw it on the sphere.

"Impossible!" Goodwin said.

"What? What?" Lazar asked. He then looked at the sphere and saw Kurogasa's new mark. "What on earth is that?" He asked. Jack just watched in surprise when he saw the mark.

'_He has a mark too? I've never seen a mark like that before.'_ Jack thought.

"The imitation mark... it changed! But how is it possible...? Is he... truly a Signer?" Goodwin asked himself.

'_Imitation mark?'_ Jack thought again.

And then suddenly, the marks of the Crimson Dragon disappeared from their arms. The Signers were shocked to see this.

"Whoa!" Kurogasa gasped.

"It's gone!" Yusei exclaimed.

"What happened?" Jack asked.

"It vanished!" Luna said.

"What's going on?" Akiza asked.

Just then Kurogasa felt something on his back. _'What is this feeling? It feels like... I have some kind of new power...'_ He thought. And it was true. The full seal of the Crimson Dragon was now on his back.

"What is _this_? The full seal of the Crimson Dragon is on his back?" Goodwin asked even more shocked.

"What?" Jack asked incredulously. That even got him to get up out of his seat to see for himself. And he eyes widen he saw it on the sphere. _'What's going on?'_ he thought to himself.

At the lounge...

"Kurogasa… It seems you've gained some kind of new power." Yusei said.

At the stands...

"Look at that! It's the full seal of the Crimson Dragon!" Yanagi exclaimed seeing it on the sphere.

"How did he get that?" Leo asked.

"It must've went to him when my mark disappeared." Luna answered.

"What the heck is going on?" Tanner asked.

"Forget that, look at Kurogasa's deck!" Dexter said. Everyone looked as they saw the top card of Kurogasa's deck glowing brightly for everyone to see. "This is..." He then places his hand on the top card. "Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa shouted and drew that card. _'This card... I see. This card will carry out my wishes. This card will help Akiza!'_ "I summon Savior Dragon!" Kurogasa shouted as he placed the card on the disk. A small, pink dragon with a curvy head, yellow eyes and small wings appeared (1) (ATK: 0/DEF: 0).

"What is that? I've never seen that monster before." Yusei said. Tanner and the others, Jack, Lazar, and Goodwin all had the same thought as Yusei.

"First Savior Dragon gets an extra 500 points thanks to Haos Reactor!" Kurogasa said.

Savior Dragon- (ATK: 500/DEF: 0)

"And now I tune my level 8 Haos Omega Leonidas and level 1 Turbo Booster, with my level 1 Savior Dragon!" Kurogasa said. The monsters flew up in the air. Savior Dragon then turned transparent and grew very large as a green ring formed inside it. Leonidas turned into 8 stars and Turbo Booster into 1 star making the total 9. The nine stars lined up in the green ring inside Savior Dragon.

"_Kibō to jihi no hikari wa kokoro no kurai jōka suru! Sono kagayaki wa sukui ni bīkon to akarui mirai ni natte miyou! Shinkuro Shoukan! Kouraiseyo, Haos Savior Leonidas!"_ (1)

A beam of light shot out of Savior Dragon and what took its place was an evolved form of Omega Leonidas. His feature is mostly the same, only this time, he is now covered in gold armor along with having 4 wings protruding from its back. It also has four claws on each hand and three claws on each foot and has three horns on its head (10) (ATK: 4000/DEF: 3000). The new dragon roared with majesty and authority as light shined from it. Everyone felt both fear and admiration of this new dragon that appeared before them.

"Whoa! That's cool!" Leo exclaimed.

"Yeah…" Dexter added.

"Whoa…" Luna said in awe.

"I'm getting goosebumps seeing that dragon Kurogasa has!" Yanagi said excited.

"You don't have to tell me twice; this could be what Kurogasa really needs!" Tanner said.

In the lounge…

"His dragon... It's like it has evolved." Yusei said.

At the private box…

"Remarkable… I've never seen such a dragon like that one…" Goodwin said.

"Not bad… Actually makes me feel jealous of him." Jack said who was actually impressed.

In the stands…

"This dragon…" Sayer mused.

Back on the field…

"Now Haos Reactor activates since Savior Leonidas is a light monster that was summoned." Kurogasa said.

Haos Savior Leonidas- (ATK: 4500/DEF: 3000)

"Next I activate Savior Leonidas's special ability! I remove 5 light attribute monster from the game, and it gains the attack strength of every single one that was removed!" Everyone shouted a collective "WHAT?" "So now I remove _Omega_ Leonidas, Ancient Nemus, Lars Lion, Blade Tigrerra, and Siege!" Faint images of the 5 mentioned monsters appeared before Savior Leonidas and the new dragon absorbed their energy into him.

Haos Savior Leonidas- (ATK: 16300/DEF: 3000)

"HOLY CRAP LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! THIS IS OVERKILL! IT'S GAME OVER! NO, FORGET GAME OVER, THE ENTIRE GAME SYSTEM IS BROKE!" The MC announced in an overexcited tone of voice.

"Listen Akiza… It doesn't have to be like this..." Kurogasa says as he approaches her.

"What are you doing?" Akiza demanded.

"I don't want to hurt you, so…

"Stay away!" Akiza yelled as Black Rose Dragon used its black thorn whips and lashed out at the Haos duelist. Kurogasa grunted in pain as he was knocked back. The audience was gasped at what he was doing.

"KUROGASA!" Luna cried in horror as she now started to cry.

"What's he doing? He's gonna get killed." Tanner exclaimed.

"Is he crazy?" Dexter asked.

"This is horrible!" Yanagi said in horror.

"Get out of there!" Leo cried.

Kurogasa got back up and he still continued on. Every step he took, he was in pain. But he didn't care. He continued to approach Akiza.

"I'm not giving up on you Akiza… You don't have to be afraid..."

"I said stay away!" Akiza yelled as the Black Rose Dragon continued to lash out on Kurogasa. The thorns were lacerating his skin. His clothes were ripping to shreds and his body was mostly covered in blood. But despite that, he still continued on.

"Let me help you..." He said as he continued on and he was getting close to Akiza. This was the last straw for the Black Rose Dragon now used its thorn whips to wrap his arms, legs, and body, to stop him going any further. The thorns dug deep into his now damaged body and was really in pain. But still, he didn't care. He endures it and he slowly took one step forward and then another with every ounce of strength he had left. Black Rose Dragon with all its might still tried to hold him back. But Kurogasa defied it and he still continued on.

"Why? Why can't you just stay away from me and leave me alone?" Akiza screamed. But then suddenly, her body was wrapped around by Kurogasa's bloody arms and was hugging her. He managed to reach to her despite Black Rose Dragon's thorny vines ripping his clothes and flesh and attempting to hold him back.

"Because... I wanted to save you…" Kurogasa whispered. Akiza gasped heavily at this with realization. Maybe she realized what he was trying to do all along. "Leonidas... end this..." Kurogasa whispered. Leonidas, as if it heard him, shined light from itself. Black Rose Dragon roared as the light engulfed it and Akiza's life points depleted. As this was happening, the thorny vines that held Kurogasa disappeared signaling that Black Rose Dragon was destroyed and then the light faded away. Akiza's mask fell off. Her eyes were wide with realization and tears were streaming down her face.

**Kurogasa: **660

**Akiza: **0

"WE HAVE A WINNER! THE BLACK ROSE IS DEFEATED! KUROGASA KURURUGI WILL BE ADVANCING TO THE FINALS!" The MC announced. Savior Leonidas then faded and the duel disks deactivated. As much as the audience wanted to cheer for Kurogasa defeating the Witch, The audience was in silence. This was all too much to take in.

"Akiza… I just want you to know that you're not alone. I know the world is cruel to you because you're different. No one deserves that… you just want to be loved and feel belonged. And that can start by being friends with me… Akiza… find… your… light…" That was last thing Kurogasa said before falling next to her and the darkness soon took over him.

SURPRISE! Savior Dragon made an early appearance! Well, I don't know if that surprised you or not, but if it didn't just act surprised. That was the longest chapter I had to write there. WHEW! Now I know some of that chapter was a little bit gory there, but hey, that's how it is. Also, the cards Kurogasa used for the duel like Card of Demise, Card of Sanctity, Reduction Barrier, and such are only used for this duel. So… review!

(*1)- The first move was Sweet Chin Music if you guys didn't know. That move is owned by Shawn Michaels aka "The Heartbreak Kid".

(*2)- The second move was Trouble In Paradise. That move is owned by Kofi Kingston.

I do not own these WWE moves!

(1)- The light of hope and mercy will purify the darkest of hearts! Let its radiance become the beacon to salvation and a brighter future! Synchro Summon! Arrive in light, Haos Savior Leonidas!


	25. Chapter 23: No Matter What: A Turbo Duel

Here we go people! After a little break from writing everything last chapter, it's time for the turbo duel between Kurogasa and Yusei!

Disclaimer: Same thing.

Chapter 23: No Matter What: A Turbo Duel

Outside of the Kaiba Dome, there was a large moving-type truck. It was fancy, futuristic, and it was engraved with the Arcadia Movement logo. It was surrounded by faceless Arcadia Movement personnel spaced at regular intervals standing guard and surrounding it.

Within it, Akiza laid inside a small, glass-roofed pod filled above the waistline with water. She was dressed in a crimson one piece bathing suit that clung to her figure tightly. Ever since her last duel, she was very exhausted physically and mentally from using her psychic powers. Sayer was staying with her for a while making sure she's all right. Akiza lied in the pod, motionless looking up in the ceiling, but she was thinking about something... or rather thinking about someone. It was the one duelist she last dueled, and she can't get her mind off of that particular person.

"Kuro...gasa..." Akiza mumbled. Sayer twitched at hearing that name, but remained calm. He then stood next to the pod.

"Sayer... what should I do? Please tell me, what should I do?" Akiza asked.

"Akiza, look me in the eye." Sayer said softly. "That one speaks nonsense. It'd be best if you listen to what I say."

"Ugh..." Akiza groaned.

"Don't think about anything right now. Just rest. I'm going to watch the rest of this tournament, but I'll come back to check on you later."

"Yes... Sayer..." Akiza replied and with that Sayer left the truck leaving Akiza to dwell in her thoughts freely. She continued to stare at the ceiling for a while still thinking about the person she can't get her mind off of.

"Kuro… gasa..."

Outside of the truck, Sayer was on his way back to the Kaiba Dome. _'Damn that Kurogasa! How dare he try to fill Akiza's mind with all that nonsense! He has no idea who he's messing with. When the time comes, he's going to pay for it dearly!'_ Sayer thought angrily.

We now turn our attention to the infirmary where Kurogasa is being treated. When his duel with Akiza ended, Yusei immediately went over to Kurogasa to get him some help. The medical team immediately got to the scene as well with him and Kurogasa was put in a stretcher and taken to the infirmary for surgery. The doctor and nurses were working around the clock, stopping the bleeding from spewing out of his body and closing up the multiple wounds he had. Yusei and company were in the infirmary lobby for a few hours waiting for Kurogasa's surgery to be done. Just then, the doctor came out of the surgery room and into the infirmary lobby. Everyone stood up and gathered around the doctor.

"How is he doc?" Leo asked.

"Well, we managed to stop the bleeding and closed up all his wounds. He lost a lot of blood, but we managed to stabilize him by giving him lots of fluids. He should be fine now." The doctor said. The group gave a huge sigh of relief.

"That's a relief." Luna said.

"You said it. I thought he wouldn't survive..." Yanagi sighed.

"However, his recovery to full health would probably take weeks maybe even months." The doctor said grimly. Everyone sighed heavily at that.

"Can we see him?" Yusei asked.

"Of course, follow me." The doctor said. Being led into the recovery room, the gang saw Kurogasa lying awake with his mostly bandaged body in bed with an IV needle into his arm giving him blood, and a heart monitor hooked to his chest with pads. Once everyone got settled around the bedridden duelist, he smiled weakly.

"Hey guys." he greeted.

"Hey Kurogasa! How are you feeling?" Dexter asked.

"As of now, I got an aching body, but I'll live." Kurogasa answered.

"Glad to see you're up, kid." Tanner replied.

"Well..." Leo was about to say something when Luna punched him in the arm, "What? I wasn't going to say he now looks like he's half-mummy!" Everyone sighed.

"You just did." Yanagi stated.

Leo gasped and covered his mouth, "Oops..."

"No problem, Leo." Kurogasa waved off. "I know you're trying to cheer me up. I could use some laughs after my duel with Akiza. Speaking of Akiza… what happened to her? How is she doing?"

"We don't know." Luna replied. "I saw Yusei come for you, after you collapsed at the end."

"Yeah." Yusei nodded. "When I went to get you some help, I heard her say 'help me'."

The Haos duelist raised an eyebrow. "She asked you to help her?"

"No, she fell to her knees and looked down at you when she said that." the Satellite replied. "I was about to do something about it until the guy that had those strange men with him before the duel, came and got her away from the duel arena."

Flashback

_Kurogasa collapsed next to Akiza. Akiza slowly turned around to look at the fallen Haos duelist and stood there for a while as Yusei arrived at the scene via elevator platform on one of the empty areas of the ground duel arena. He then ran over to Kurogasa and flipped his body over so he is lying on his back._

"_Kurogasa! Kurogasa! Hang in there! Don't die on me!" Yusei shouted, but there was no response. Akiza then fell to her knees and still stared at Kurogasa._

"_Help me..." Akiza whispered._

"_Huh?" Yusei asked when he looked at her._

"_Help me, Kurogasa..." Akiza whispered as more tears streamed down her extremely sad face. Yusei gasped seeing this._

"_Akiza…"_

"_-is not of your concern." A new voice said. Yusei turned around to see Sayer coming towards them from the elevator that led to the ground duel arena. He then took off his coat and puts it over Akiza. "Your fallen friend has done enough damage for one day. It's best that you stay away from her. That goes _especially_ for him." Sayer said coldly. He then turned towards the plant duelist. "It's alright, Akiza, you did your best. You'll do better next time. Let's go." He said to her in a gentle voice. He slowly picked her up to her feet and they both slowly walked away. As soon as they left, the medical team arrived._

End Flashback

"I see..." Kurogasa said. "I guess I _did_ get through to her after all... but what about the Fortune Cup?"

"There's a problem with that." Tanner spoke up. "Since you were pretty banged up, the officials had to disqualify you and give Yusei a bye. So now he's going to be dueling Jack."

Kurogasa groaned. "Oh well. Guess I'll duel ya when I get out of this bed on doctor's leave."

"And it will be the first thing we do when the time comes." Yusei smiled. He then turned towards Tanner. "Hey Tanner, can you, Yanagi, Dexter, and the Twins go out for a while? I need to talk with Kurogasa alone."

"Sure. Alright twins and gramps, let's go." Tanner said.

"Okay. Take it easy sonny." Yanagi said.

"Get better Kurogasa." Luna smiled.

"What she said." Dexter added.

"Yeah! We should duel after ya get better!" Leo said.

"Sure thing guys." Kurogasa said and then the four people left room leaving only the two Satellites alone. "What's up Yusei?" He asked.

"It's about your memories. You got them back didn't you." Yusei stated. Kurogasa let out a sigh.

"Yeah."

"When?"

"It was when I went with Leo, Luna, and Blister to the tag team tournament here. I saw on TV, the news channel and there was a car accident there. That's what triggered my memories to come back."

"And you seem to know Goodwin very well too."

"Yeah." Kurogasa said. He then told Yusei everything about his past. From his parents being good friends with Goodwin, to his parents' death to Goodwin looking after him, to resurrecting the Crimson Dragon with the fake clones and birthmarks, everything. After he finished his story, Yusei stood silent for a while.

"Yusei, I'm sorry I held out on you like that. Part of me, wasn't ready to tell you yet. I know you don't like Goodwin and I know that he's done things you wouldn't probably forgive him for, but..." Kurogasa looked away sadly.

"It's alright."

"What?" Kurogasa asked looking back at Yusei confused.

"It's not your fault that you wanted to repay Goodwin. I would repay someone for looking after me too. I know it hurts thinking about your parents' death and you had every right not to say anything about it. But next time, you gotta tell me these kinds of things. Don't hide secrets from your friends."

"Alright, I promise." Kurogasa smiled a little bit.

"Okay, well I better get ready to duel Jack. After I beat him and you recover, we'll have our duel."

"Alright then. Good luck." Kurogasa said. Just then, Kurogasa and Yusei's birthmark both glowed. The two Satellites were surprised by this. Then a red aura surrounded Kurogasa. It wasn't a painful aura, but something else.

"What's happening to you?" Yusei asked.

"I don't know, but I like it. It feels like my strength's coming back to me." Kurogasa said getting a little excited. A few seconds later, the aura died out. Kurogasa was... healed up. But to confirm this, he took off the IV off his arm and the pads off his chest and jumped out of the bed. "Wow, I can move!" He then ripped the bandages off and sure enough, he saw that his entire body was completely healed. It was like it was never injured in the first place. "I don't what that was, but I _do _know is that we're about to have our duel after all!" Kurogasa smiled.

"Yep!" Yusei smiled as well.

"WE'RE BACK LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! IT IS NOW TIME FOR THE TITLE MATCH! THE SHOOTING STAR OF SATTELITE YUSEI FUDO WILL GO UP AGAINST-" But before the MC could say anything else, a staff member came up to him and whispered something in his ear. He was rather shocked to hear it.

"LOOKS LIKE THERE'S BEEN A CHANGE OF PLANS! I'VE JUST GOTTEN WORD THAT KUROGASA KURURUGI WILL BE TURBO DUELING YUSEI FUDO!" The MC announced. Most of the crowd was in confusion. There was no way that Kurogasa would be turbo dueling. Not after what happened with his last duel against Akiza.

At the stands…

"Say what? But he was on the hospital bed when we left!" Leo exclaimed.

"There's no way he'll turbo duel in that condition!" Tanner added.

"Not to mention, that he just got out of surgery!" Yanagi exclaimed.

All of a sudden, Kurogasa's Omega Frame runner came out of the entrance that leads to the track and him riding it. He did a lap of track before taking his starting position. Everyone was shocked to see this.

"I DON'T BELIEVE IT FOLKS! HE REALLY IS HERE! HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?" The MC asked. Even Goodwin and Lazar were shocked. Jack was too, but was silent about it.

"There's no way that he's able to turbo duel! He just got banged up by that Akiza girl and now he's better like it never happened!" Lazar exclaimed.

"The only explanation I could assume was that his mark of the Crimson Dragon was able to heal him this fast." Goodwin replied.

"But this is just impossible!" Lazar exclaimed.

"Oh shut up, will you? You're giving me a headache." Jack said irritated.

"What did you say?" Lazar asked angrily.

"Calm down Lazar. Let's just watch this duel." Goodwin said.

"But-"

"If you say another word, you're fired." The Director said in a stern tone. That got Lazar to shut his mouth.

At the stands...

"Impossible. That kid shouldn't be able to even stand on his two feet even after what Akiza did to him." Sayer said in disbelief. Just then another runner came out of the entrance that led to the track. It was Yusei's; and he did a lap of track before taking his starting position next to Kurogasa.

"AND IT LOOKS LIKE YUSEI FUDO HAS APPEARED ON THE SCENE TOO! OKAY THEN, IT LOOKS LIKE THAT WE'LL BE HAVING THIS TURBO DUEL AFTER ALL!" The MC announced. The crowd cheered at that. "ALRIGHT THEN, LET'S TURBO DUEL! DUELISTS, ACTIVATE SPEED WORLD!"

"FI-RUDO MAHO! SUPIDO WARUDO! SETTO ON!" Both duelists shouted and pressed a button on their runners.

"**DUEL MODE. AUTOPILOT ON. STANDBY."**

The words DUEL MODE appeared on both screens, showed the speed counters and zones, and then a purple aura shot out of both runners.

"REMBER FOLKS, FIRST ONE TO TURN THE CORNER GETS THE FIRST TURN! IT'S SATELLITE VS. SATELLITE! THE WINNER OF THIS MATCH WILL HAVE A SHOT AT GOING AGAINST THE MASTER OF FASTER, JACK ATLAS!"

"You ready Yusei?" Kurogasa said.

"You bet!" Yusei smirked.

"RIDING DUEL, ACCELERATION!"

Both runners sped off of the starting position. Both were very fast and were neck and neck, but Kurogasa was able to turn the first corner. Both duelists drew their starting hand.

**Yusei:** 4000/**SPC:** 0

**Kurogasa:** 4000/**SPC:** 0

"Looks like I'll go first on this one. Ore no sentou!" Kurogasa declared and drew his sixth card. "I'll start out by summoning my Haos Falconeer in attack mode!" The white and yellow feathered humanoid falcon appeared on the field (4) (ATK: 1600/DEF: 1400). "Then I'll end my turn with a facedown. You're up Yusei!"

"Ore no ta-n!" Yusei said and drew a card.

**Yusei's SPC:** 1

**Kurogasa's SPC:** 1

"I summon my Speed Warrior!" Yusei said and his signature skating warrior appeared (2) (ATK: 900/DEF: 400). "And on the turn it's summoned, it attack points double until the end of it!" A blue aura surrounded the warrior as it powered up.

Speed Warrior- (ATK: 1800/DEF: 400)

"Speed Warrior, attack his Haos Falconeer with Sonic Edge!" Yusei commanded. The skating warrior skied towards the humanoid falcon and did a spinning kick. The humanoid falcon flew back and was destroyed in pixels.

**Yusei:** 4000/**SPC:** 1

**Kurogasa:** 3800/**SPC:** 1

"AND YUSEI WASTED NO TIME GOING ON THE OFFENSE AS HIS SPEED WARRIOR GROUNDED THAT BIRD FROM TAKING OFF!"

"I activate my Miracle's Wake trap card!" Kurogasa declared revealing the trap he put face down. "If a monster of mine was destroyed in battle, then it comes back to the field!" A dark cloud formed over the turbo duelists. A light shined down in front of Kurogasa and Falconeer descended down from the cloud.

"I'll end my turn with a facedown too." Yusei concluded and Speed Warrior's attack points returned to normal.

"Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa drew.

**Yusei's SPC:** 2

**Kurogasa's SPC**: 2

"I'll release my Falconeer in order to advance summon my Haos Griffon!" Falconeer disappeared only to be replaced by a white lion-like creature with a snake as a tail, wings, and legs are like a goat's and are scaled (5) (ATK: 1800/DEF: 2000). "Now Griffon, attack Robattalion with Venomous Beast Torrent Attack!" Kurogasa ordered. The Griffon flew towards the skating warrior and swung its snake-like tail with the head of that tail ready to bite.

"I activate my Scrap-Iron Scarecrow! It stops your attack on then it resets itself back on the field!" Yusei said and as promised, a scarecrow made out of metal appeared blocking Griffon's attack and then after, it goes back in the card and disappeared.

"It's not gonna be easy taking down my life points." Yusei smirked.

"Wouldn't have it any other way. I end my turn with a face down."

"Ore no ta-n!" Yusei said and drew a card.

**Yusei's SPC:** 3

**Kurogasa's SPC:** 3

"I summon my Junk Synchron in attack mode!" Yusei's signature orange clothed tuner monster appeared on the field (3) (ATK: 1300/DEF: 500). "And I think you know what's coming up next. I tune my level 2 Speed Warrior with my level 3 Junk Synchron!" The orange-colored tuner revved the engine on its back and turned into three green rings. The skating warrior turned into 2 stars. The stars lined up in the tunnel of rings.

"_Tsudoishi hoshi ga, aratana chikara o yobiokusu! Hikari sasu michi to nare! Shinkuro Shoukan! Ideyo, Jyanku Woria!"_

A beam of light shot out of the rings and Yusei's signature cobalt robot appeared (5) (ATK: 2300/DEF: 1300). "Junk Warrior, send Haos Griffon to the scrap heap with Scrap Fist!" Yusei ordered. The cobalt robot warrior ignited its jet pack thrusters and flew towards Griffon and was about to punch it.

"I activate my Negate Attack trap card!" Kurogasa said revealing the trap. "It negates your attack and ends the battle phase immediately!" A clear vortex appeared and it blocked Junk Warrior's assault and the robot flew back towards Yusei.

"I'll end my turn with a face down." Yusei finished.

"SO FAR, THEY'VE BEEN BLOCKING EACH OTHER'S ATTACKS! HOW LONG WILL THIS GO ON BEFORE ONE OF THEM TAKES MAJOR DAMAGE?" The MC announced.

"Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa declared and drew.

**Yusei's SPC:** 4

**Kurogasa's SPC:** 4

"Ohoho, get ready Yusei! I'm bringing out the big guns! I summon my Haos El Condor to the field!" The white shaman creature with the large Aztec mask appeared (3) (ATK: 1300/DEF: 1100).

"IS HE DOING WHAT I THINK HE'S DOING?" The MC announced.

"That's right! I'm tuning my level 5 Griffon with my level 3 El Condor!" Kurogasa declared. El Condor turned into three green rings and Griffon into 5 stars. The stars lined up in the tunnel of rings.

"_Shinzou no tamashii ga, piasu no hikari o kensaku to yami o uchikudaku! Shinkuro Shoukan! Araware o, Haos Omega Leonidas!"_

A beam of light shot out of the rings and Kurogasa's signature dragon appeared on the field (8) (ATK: 3000/DEF: 2500)

"AND THERE IT IS LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! LEONIDAS HAS APPEARED ON THE FIELD!" The MC announced.

"Now I activate the speed spell, Count Up! If I have two or more speed counters, I can send any number of cards from my hand to the graveyard to gain two speed counters, so I send one card to the graveyard and gain two." Kurogasa said discarding a card to the graveyard.

**Yusei's SPC:** 4

**Kurogasa's SPC:** 6

"Next I activate this speed spell! It's a little something I call, Dead Synchron! If I have 5 or more speed counters, I can synchro summon one synchro monster from my graveyard!"

"What?" Yusei asked startled.

"Now I remove my level 4 Haos Falconeer and my level 3 El Condor from play, so I can have El Condor tune Falconeer!" Kurogasa said. Faint images of El Condor and Falconeer appeared. The process of synchro summoning started to happen again.

"_Kurai kokoro no okusoko kara, sono megumi to anata no kokoro ni hikari o kagayaka seru! Shinkuro Shokan! Araware o! Haos Lars Lion!"_

A beam of light shot out of the rings and the majestic female angelic warrior appeared 7 (ATK: 2500/DEF: 2000). "Now her ability activates! When successfully summoned, all light attribute monsters gain 500 attack points!" Kurogasa said as Lars Lion and Leonidas glowed a bright yellow aura.

Haos Lars Lion- (ATK: 3000/DEF: 2000)

Haos Omega Leonidas- (ATK: 3500/DEF: 2500)

"Two monsters with over 3000 attack points?" Leo exclaimed.

"This is overkill right here!" Dexter added.

"No, Savior Leonidas's attack points of 16,300 is what's overkill." Luna corrected the boys.

"I'm not done yet! I activate Leonidas's special ability! Once per turn, he can absorb half the attack points of one of my monsters from the graveyard until the end of the turn! So Griffon's attack points go to Leonidas!" Kurogasa said as a faint of Griffon went into Leonidas.

Haos Omega Leonidas- (ATK: 4300/DEF: 2500)

"Alright then, Leonidas, attack Junk Warrior with Omega Eraser!" Kurogasa ordered. Leonidas flew in the air, opened up its mouth and fired a large beam of energy at the cobalt robot.

"Did you forget about my Scrap-Iron Scarecrow? It stops the attack then it gets reset on the field!" Yusei reminded him as he revealed the trap card again and a metal scarecrow appeared blocking the attack. And then, it went back into the card and was put back face down.

"Of course I haven't. That card can only be activated once so now I can finally deal damage to you. Lars Lion, attack his Junk Warrior with Sagittarius Arrow!" Kurogasa commanded. The female angelic warrior formed a bow from her wrist with light energy and then she fired an arrow of light at Junk Warrior and was destroyed into pixels. Yusei winced as the pixels were sent towards him.

**Yusei:** 3300/**SPC:** 4

**Kurogasa:** 3800/**SPC:** 6

"I end my turn. Now Leonidas's effect is done and thanks to the Dead Synchron, speed spell, Lars Lion is removed from play." Kurogasa concluded. Leonidas's attack points dropped back down to 3500 and Lars Lion disappeared.

"Huh? Why is it 3500 and not 3000? Shouldn't it drop down to that?" Yanagi asked.

"Don't ya get it gramps? It's Lars Lion's effect. When she's successfully summoned, all light attribute monsters gain 500 attack points. It didn't say until the end of the turn." Tanner explained.

"Ore no ta-n!" Yusei declared drawing a card.

**Yusei's SPC:** 5

**Kurogasa's SPC:** 7

"I activate my trap card, Descending Lost Star! I can bring back a synchro monster from my graveyard and special summon it in defense mode. But its effect is negated, its Level is reduced by 1 and its defense becomes 0. So I bring back my Junk Warrior!" Yusei said. His signature cobalt robot appeared (4) (ATK: 2300/DEF: 0) "Next I summon the tuner monster, Hyper Synchron!" Yusei said summoning a blue armored creature with a green armored chest and a booster on its back (4) (ATK: 1600/DEF: 800). "Get ready Kurogasa, I'm bringing out the dragon that Jack took from me!" Yusei said.

"Huh? Wait, are you saying-"

"I tune my level 4 Junk Warrior with my level 4 Hyper Synchron!" Yusei said. Junk flew in the air and turned into 4 stars. Hyper Synchron's chest opened up and let out 4 stars which turned into 4 green rings and then Hyper Synchron disappeared. The stars lined up in the tunnel of rings.

"_Tsudoishi nenai ga, aratani kagayaku hoshi wo naru! Hikari sasu michi to nare! Shinkuro Shoukan! Hishouseyo, Sutādasuto Doragon!"_ (1)

A beam of light shot out of the rings and then appeared a white scaled dragon with pale blue armor coating around the shoulders, chest, thighs and forearms. The head extended out with a blade-like point at the end of the skull and carried golden eyes (8) (ATK: 2500/DEF: 2000). Stardust was surrounding it until it dispersed raining down on the arena. The audience watched in awe seeing it. Even Kurogasa was awestruck.

"LOOK AT THAT! LOOK HOW MAJESTIC THAT DRAGON IS!" The MC announced.

"Not bad…" Jack said. Goodwin and Lazar just watched.

"Oh my, look at that! It's Yusei Stardust Dragon!" Yanagi exclaimed.

"Whoa! That's cool, but not as cool as Kurogasa's Haos Savior Leonidas!" Leo said. Kurogasa looked at Yusei's Stardust Dragon in awe and admiration.

"It's an honor to finally meet you, Stardust Dragon." Kurogasa smirked. Just then, both Yusei and Kurogasa's mark glowed. Jack, along with Akiza and Luna's mark glowed as well.

"What the- What's with our marks?" Yusei asked.

"Don't know, but it's not throbbing and I'm not in pain or anything." Kurogasa said.

"Think it's because we're just having a friendly duel or something?" Yusei asked.

"Don't know. Anyways, aren't you still on your turn?"

"Oh right, let's get back to this duel! When Hyper Synchron is used for a synchro summon of a dragon-type synchro monster, that dragon gains 800 attack points!" Yusei said as a faint image of Hyper Synchron went into Stardust Dragon.

Stardust Dragon- (ATK: 3300/DEF: 2000)

"You're 300 points short of Stardust Dragon being stronger than Leonidas. You know that right?" Kurogasa said.

"I know. That's because I'm playing this, the speed spell, Silver Contrails! If I have 5 or more speed counters, my monster gains 1000 attack points!" Wind surrounded Stardust Dragon as it was powering up.

Stardust Dragon- (ATK: 4300/DEF: 2000)

"Oh crap, this is gonna hurt…" Kurogasa muttered.

"Now Stardust Dragon, attack Leonidas with Cosmic Flare!" Yusei ordered. Stardust Dragon opened up its mouth and let out a beam of stardust. And then Leonidas was destroyed in no time. Kurogasa's runner wobbled for a little bit, but was able to get back in control.

**Yusei:** 3300/**SPC:** 5

**Kurogasa:** 3000/**SPC:** 7

"I'll end my turn with two facedowns." Yusei concluded putting his last two cards from his hand to the disk and Stardust Dragon's attack points went back to 3300.

"Good move, Yusei." Kurogasa stated. "Your monster may be strong, but it now has a serious weakness!" Everyone gasped.

Yusei smiled, despite the predicament, "I know... since I used Hyper Synchron, after two of my standby phases, Stardust Dragon will be removed from play."

"And I plan on capitalizing on that. Ore no ta-n!" the Haos duelist shouted as he drew his lone card.

**Yusei's SPC:** 6

**Kurogasa's SPC: 8**

"I'll summon Haos Tentaclar and end my turn." Kurogasa announced as he put the lone card on his disk, bringing out his white eyeball tentacle monster (3) (ATK: 1350/DEF: 1550).

"I'm up then. Ore no ta-n!" Yusei drew.

**Yusei's SPC:** 7

**Kurogasa's SPC:** 9

"And I'll end my turn without making a move, since your monster would just negate the attack."

"Smart move there. Ore no ta-n! Doro!" Kurogasa drew another lone card.

**Yusei's SPC:** 8

**Kurogasa's SPC:** 10

"I set another card facedown and end my turn!"

"Here we go again! Ore no ta-n!" Yusei drew.

**Yusei's SPC:** 9

**Kurogasa's SPC:** 11

"Stardust Dragon, attack Tentaclar with Cosmic Flare!" Yusei commanded. Stardust dragon opened up its mouth and let out a beam of stardust at the eyeball creature.

"Sorry, but when it's targeted, I can deflect that attack! Tentaclar, deflect it with Flare Blind!" Kurogasa ordered. The eyeball shined its light and enveloped and absorbed the attack leaving Tentaclar safe.

"If that doesn't work, then I'll activate Synchro Blast! As long as this card's on the field, every time a Synchro monster of mine attacks, you lose 500 life points!" A beam of light shot out of the trap card damaging Kurogasa in the process.

**Yusei:** 3300/**SPC:** 9

**Kurogasa:** 2500/**SPC:** 11

"I knew you'd try to prolong it, so I'll take you down slowly as well. I end my turn."

"Clever. Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa drew.

**Yusei's SPC:** 10

**Kurogasa's SPC:** 12

"But now, I can take the driver's seat by setting this card down and ending my turn."

"SO FAR IT'S BEEN MOSTLY PUTTING ON THE FIELD, HOW LONG IS THIS GOING TO TAKE? ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN HERE!" The MC announced.

"This is so fun to watch. I'm getting some popcorn. Anyone interested?" Lazar asked. Goodwin and Jack just stayed silent.

"Ore no ta-n!" Yusei drew.

**Yusei's SPC:** 11

**Kurogasa's SPC:** 12

"And I immediately use Synchro Back! I return one synchro monster to deck and then I can summon it back during my next standby phase!" Yusei announced as Stardust Dragon glowed bright white and disappeared. "And then, because I activated it during my Draw Phase, my next standby phase is now! Return, Stardust Dragon!" A blue portal opened up and Stardust Dragon was back with original attack points (ATK: 2500) "Attack Tentaclar!" Yusei ordered and then the dragon breathed stardust from its mouth.

"Not so fast, Yusei!" Kurogasa interrupted. "Tentaclar, blind him!" Kurogasa shouted. The same thing happened with Tentaclar shining the light and absorbing the attack.

"You still take damage thanks to Synchro Blast!" Yusei reminded him as his trap card glowed and fired a beam at Kurogasa.

**Yusei:** 3300/**SPC:** 11

**Kurogasa:** 2000/**SPC:** 12

"I end by summoning Shield Warrior." Yusei concluded summoning a warrior in armor holding a lance and a long shield (3) (ATK: 800/DEF: 1600)

"Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa drew.

**Yusei's SPC:** 12

**Kurogasa's SPC:** 12

"Hey, their speed counters are full!" Leo noticed.

"Yeah. Now they can play any speed spell they want." Tanner said.

Kurogasa looked and grinned at his find. "Got ya now, I activate the Speed Spell – Wheelie Breaker! With at least 6 Speed Counters, I get to destroy every monster on your field!" Kurogasa turned around all of a sudden and did a wheelie and was about to ram his monsters over.

"I activate Stardust's special ability! When a card's effect of destruction activates, I can release him to negate and destroy the card responsible! Victim Sanctuary!" Stardust Dragon shined bright white as it took the broken wheel to the chest and then vanished.

"Well, since it's off the field, I'll go on the attack. I summon Haos Monarus!" The white butterfly fairy creature appeared on the field (3) (ATK: 1000/DEF: 1200) "And when successfully, I gain 500 life points for every card in your hand. You have one card, so I gain 500 life points with Monarus's effect!" A bright aura glowed on Yusei's lone card, went over to Monarus and then to Kurogasa.

**Yusei:** 3300/**SPC:** 11

**Kurogasa:** 2500/**SPC:** 12

"Now I tune it together with my Haos Tentaclar!" Kurogasa said as Monarus turned into three green ring and Tentaclar into 3 stars. The stars lined up in the tunnel of rings.

"_Ten no houshakou ha, kurayami no ue ni kagayaki, subete no eien no tame ni sore o fusshoku suru! Shinkuro Shoukan! Migaki ni, Haos Ancient Nemus!"_

A beam of light shot out of the rings and the male angelic warrior appeared (6) (ATK: 2400/DEF: 2000)

"And with his ability, I plan to revive my Omega Leonidas! Divine Light!" Kurogasa shouted. Nemus shined a light from its staff and from that light; his ace dragon appeared back on the field with its original attack points there too. (ATK: 3000)

"Next, I activate Dust Tornado to destroy your Scrap-Iron Scarecrow!" Kurogasa said revealing a trap card showing a tornado with feathers. A tornado came out of the card and blew away Scrap-Iron Scarecrow. "Then, I use Leonidas's special ability to absorb half of Haos Griffon's ATK again!" A faint image of Griffon appeared and was absorbed into Leonidas granting the dragon power.

"Not so fast, I activate the effect of Effect Veiler from my hand, negating your monster's effect!" A faint image of the cute aqua-blue haired young woman, wearing a pale pink thigh length coat that bared her shoulders and tight black leggings, white angelic wings sprouting from her shoulders pulled the phantom of Griffon out of Leonidas and threw it back into Kurogasa's graveyard.

"Oh well, at least I'll still attack and give you big damage. Now, Ancient Nemus attack Shield Warrior with Sparkly Arrow!" Kurogasa commanded. Nemus raised his staff and sent a wave of light energy that's fast as an arrow at Shield Warrior and was destroyed into pixels in no time. "Now Leonidas, attack directly with Omega Eraser!" Leonidas opened up its mouth and fired a huge blue laser at Yusei. Yusei's runner spun out of control for a while, but got back in control.

**Yusei:** 300/**SPC:** 9

**Kurogasa:** 2500/**SPC:** 12

"AND FINALLY ONE OF THEM TAKES MAJOR DAMAGE! WITH 300 POINTS LEFT, CAN YUSEI PULL OUT A VICTORY OR WILL IT BE HIS FINAL LAP?" The MC announced.

"That's my turn."

"Good. Since it's the end of your turn, my Stardust Dragon now returns to the field!" Yusei announced as his trademark dragon appeared back. "Ore no ta-n!" Yusei drew.

**Yusei's SPC:** 9

**Kurogasa's SPC:** 12

"I set one card facedown and have Stardust Dragon attack Ancient Nemus! Cosmic Flare!" Yusei ordered. Stardust Dragon breathed stardust from its mouth and destroyed Nemus into pixels.

**Yusei:** 300/**SPC:** 9

**Kurogasa:** 2400/**SPC:** 12

"And then Synchro Blast deals another 500 points of damage!" A beam shot at Kurogasa and was hit in the back.

**Yusei:** 300/**SPC:** 9

**Kurogasa:** 1900/**SPC:** 12

"That's my turn."

"That's the best you've got?" Kurogasa shouted from behind him. "Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa drew.

**Yusei's SPC:** 10

**Kurogasa's SPC:** 12

"Leonidas, attack Stardust Dragon and end this duel!" Kurogasa ordered. Leonidas flew in the air and fired a huge from its mouth.

"THIS IS IT FOLKS, IF THIS ATTACK WORKS, KUROGASA WILL HAVE THE CHANCE AT TAKING ON JACK ATLAS FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP!" The MC announced.

'_You better have something up your sleeve Yusei, because _I'm_ the only one that's supposed to beat you.' _Jack thought.

"I activate Shield Warrior's effect, by removing him from play; I can save Stardust Dragon from being destroyed in battle!" The phantom of Shield Warrior appeared and blacked with its shield, but some of it went past the shield and was going for Yusei.

"But you'll still lose the rest of your life points!"

"Not quite, and I don't plan on it because I also activate Defense Draw, negating the damage and letting me draw a card!" A shield surrounded Yusei blocking the rest of the attack and after that Yusei drew a card.

"I end my turn."

"TALK ABOUT CLOSE LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, YUSEI SAVED HIMSELF FROM LOSING THE DUEL!" The MC announced.

"Oh man, this is really intense!" Leo said excited.

"I know. Anything can happen right now." Dexter added.

"Ore no ta-n!"

**Yusei's SPC:** 11

**Kurogasa's SPC:** 12

"I start with the Speed Spell – Shift Down, reducing my speed by 6 and drawing two cards!" Yusei drew two cards and Yusei slowed down to just about below half of Kurogasa's speed.

**Yusei's SPC:** 5

**Kurogasa's SPC:** 12

"I set two cards facedown and switch Stardust to defense mode!" Yusei said switching the card horizontally. Stardust curled up in defense.

"Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa drew.

**Yusei's SPC:** 6

**Kurogasa's SPC:** 12

He grinned at seeing the card he drew. "It's time. Sorry Yusei, I know you still have to settle your score with Jack, but I have to win this. I summon Haos Manion!" The sphinx creature appeared on the field (3) (ATK: 1350/DEF: 1000) "Now, Leonidas attack Stardust Dragon with Omega Eraser!" Kurogasa ordered. Leonidas faced Stardust once more and fired a huge laser at it. Stardust took it hit and was struggling to defend and was destroyed in pixels.

"Hate to break to ya Kurogasa, but it's gonna be me taking the victory lap! I activate Cosmic Blast! When a Dragon-Type Synchro Monster I control leaves the field, you take damage equal to Stardust Dragon's ATK!"

"Say what?" Kurogasa said shocked. A ghostly image of Stardust appearing over Yusei, and summoned a great wind. It formed a tornado that it wraps its wings around. Light poured from behind its wings and exploded. Kurogasa shielded his eyes from the light as the explosion got to him and depleted the rest of his life points.

**Yusei:** 300/**SPC:** 6

**Kurogasa:** 0/**SPC:** 10

A big red X showed on Kurogasa's screen and steam came out of the runner. He lost control for a while, but was able to stop from crashing on to the asphalt track. Yusei stopped his red runner a few feet from where Kurogasa was. The holograms faded and their dragon marks faded as well.

"WE HAVE A WINNER! AFTER A LONG DUEL, YUSEI FUDO HAS DEFEATED KUROGASA AND WILL BE TAKING ON JACK ATLAS FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP!" The MC announced. The crowd cheered at that.

"That was awesome!" Leo said.

"You said it. That was a really good duel." Luna added.

"I'm with ya on that." Dexter said.

"I'm proud of those boys." Yanagi sighed happily.

"I gotta say, they put up a pretty good fight." Tanner grinned.

At the stands…

"Well that was interesting." Lazar said.

"Indeed." Goodwin replied. Jack sat there in silence.

'_Now you and I can finally settle our score. As for you Kurogasa, I was about to teach a lesson or two if you beat Yusei, but then again, that wasn't half bad.' _Jack thought.

At the track, Yusei and Kurogasa met up with each other face to face with their helmets off.

"Whew! I thought I had you there!" Kurogasa smiled.

"Yep. But I won." Yusei smirked.

"I had a great time dueling you." Kurogasa extended his hand.

"Back at ya." Yusei said extending his hand and they both shook.

Oh man, that was tiring. Okay people, next chapter, it will be the final duel of the Fortune Cup! Until then, review!

(1)- Clustering hopes will become a new shining star! Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon, Take Flight, Stardust Dragon!


	26. Chapter 24: Fortune Cup Finale!

This is it ladies and gentlemen, the final duel of the Fortune Cup. Yusei Fudo against Jack Atlas! Before I begin, I told you in the summary that this story will also have the Dark Signer Arc in it. But I'm starting to wonder if I should stop on this chapter because this is where the Stardust Accelerator game stops or should I continue to the Dark Signer Arc just changing the summary and all that. What do you think I should do about it? Tell me in your review once you're done reading this chapter. Now that that's out of the way, let's start!

Disclaimer: SAME THING! STOP NAGGING ME ABOUT IT!

Chapter 24: Fortune Cup Finale!

"Nnngh! Come on, open up!" Nervin shouted as he tried to pry at the seams of a box. Ever since Yusei and Kurogasa left Satellite, the group has been captured by strange men and now they are contained in a large cargo container.

"Knock it off, Nervin. It's not gonna budge." Blitz said annoyed.

"Hey come on, let us outta here already!" Nervin shouted and then he gave up and turned to his friends. "Any of you guys see who those thugs were?"

"I couldn't see anything; I was so scared I had my eyes closed!"

"I wish they'd feed us." Rally groaned. "Or at the very least tell us what we're doing in here!"

Meanwhile, Yusei and Kurogasa met up with Tanner and the others.

"Okay guys, I think it's time that you guys get out of here." Kurogasa said.

"What are you talking about?" Leo asked.

"Look, things have been pretty hectic out here and I think things are about to get more dangerous. Especially with this Signer stuff going on around here." Yusei said concerned. "Which is why you guys need to get out of here now. Just head towards Blister's place and don't stop for anyone or anything."

"Well, okay then, you heard Yusei. Let's get going." Yanagi said to the twins and Dexter getting up from his seat. "Follow me and stay close behind." He said. Yanagi lead with Tanner, Leo, Luna, and Dexter following as they left their seats.

"Think they'll be okay?" Kurogasa asked.

"I hope so." Yusei said. Then Yusei's mark started glowing. He winced at the stinging pain as he rolled up his right sleeve and saw his mark. When the glowing stopped, the mark stayed where it was. It was now permanent.

"You okay man?" Kurogasa asked and then he saw Yusei's now permanent mark. "Well, looks like you won't be getting that off anytime soon."

"Yeah. But right now, I need to talk with Goodwin."

"You just read my mind." Kurogasa replied as they looked at the tower where Goodwin was in.

As Tanner and the others entered the hallway, several security guards, blocked their path.

"Stop right there." One guard said.

"Oh great, not now." Dexter groaned.

"You weren't planning to leave, were you?" a new voice chuckled as Lazar showed up.

"And what if we are?" Tanner scoffed.

"Well, Director Goodwin would like you to stay and enjoy the rest of the tournament." The Vice-Director chuckled.

"Well, you tell Goodwin that we're sick of him telling people what to do!"The former-pro grabbed Lazar by the front of his blazer and lifted him into the air and Lazar didn't stop smirking anytime soon.

"Temper, temper." Lazar waggled his finger. "Did you hear about Yusei and Kurogasa's friends?" Lazar giggled. Tanner, looking stunned, knowing exactly where this was going. He roughly dropped Lazar. "I heard that they went missing a few days ago." the Vice-Director scoffed as he straightened his jacket. "I hope nothing bad happens to them. So I think it would be best if you return to your seats now!"

Meanwhile, Trudge entered the tower to speak to Goodwin.

"Director? Look, sir, there's something I've gotta say. It's my official position that you need to stop this tournament." He protested.

"I thought your 'official position' was mall security." Goodwin replied, taking a sip of wine from the glass in his hand.

"Very funny. But I feel this tournament is cursed or something! And things might get worse!"

"Officer, I don't pay you to be concerned."

"But sir-"

"I pay you to do what I say. And as for what you think, if I was going to pay someone to do some thinking, it most certainly would not be you." Just then the elevator opened up and Yusei and Kurogasa showed up.

"What're you punks doing up here? And how did you get past Security?" Trudge snarled as Yusei and Kurogasa just simply ignored him.

"That's enough." Goodwin stood from his seat. "How can I help you, Yusei and Kurogasa?"

"Before I say... weren't you gonna throw him out?" Yusei gestured to the frustrated officer, who grabbed Yusei by the lapels. With a single nod from Goodwin, two guards appeared and grabbed Trudge by the arms, dragging him away to the elevator.

"Gaaaaah! That's it, Goodwin! I'm gonna figure out what you're up to! You're going down! You're gonna-"

SLAM

"Thanks Goodwin. Trudge has been a pain in the neck lately." Kurogasa sighed.

"You have no idea." Goodwin agreed.

"Now time to talk. You forced Kurogasa and me into this tournament. You threatened us and you locked up our friends." Yusei said to the Director. "Kurogasa told me everything about you trying to gather up the Signers, but that's not why we're up here. We have a request."

"And what would that be?" Goodwin asked.

"That you release Rally and the others now. You've gathered all the Signers here right? You got what you want. You gave your word that Rally and the others are safe. So now, as a friend of my parents, I need your word that you would release Rally and the others." Kurogasa said. Goodwin looked at the two Satellites for a while.

"If that's what you want…" Goodwin said raising his wine glass. "Then so be it."

In the cargo container, Rally heard a click and looked up. He ran over and pushed on the door as it gave way, "No way- it's open."

"Stop joking around." Blitz insisted as he came up to him.

"No I'm serious, the door's open!" Rally said. Nervin and Tank crowded toward the door as well, and the four of them end up tripping over each other and spilling out of the container into the open.

"Anybody know where we are?" Rally asked. They stood in the middle of some sort of dump. Rally, Nervin, and Tank stand up as they heard a distorted voice. By some crazy coincidence, or nothing of the kind, there was a desktop-size monitor lying on the ground, tuned into the Fortune Cup!

"AFTER AN INTENSE DUEL, YUSEI FUDO HAS WON AGAINST KUROGASA KURURUGI!" The MC in the TV yelled as Yusei and Kurogasa's face on the sphere appeared.

"What? Yusei and Kurogasa dueled? When did this happen?" Blitz asked.

"Look at their faces!" Nervin said pointing at both of them.

"They marked both of them!" Rally said.

"Wow. We missed a lot ever since they left Satellite and we got locked up." Tank said. The pictures now changed to Yusei and Jack.

"AND NOW IT'S TIME FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH! SATELLITE'S VERY OWN YUSEI FUDO WILL TAKE ON THE MASTER OF FASTER, THE KING OF ALL TURBO DUELS, JACK ATLAS!" The MC announced.

"Yusei is dueling Jack?" Tank exclaimed.

"This is gonna be interesting…" Nervin said.

"Yeah, they finally get to settle the score!" Blitz said.

"I hope Yusei wins!" Rally added.

At the stands…

Kurogasa was walking to the stands finding until he surprisingly saw Tanner and the others. He ran up to them.

"Guys, what are you still doing here? Didn't Yusei and I tell ya to get out of here?"

"Yeah, but…" Leo began.

"Goodwin's lackeys stopped us from going." Tanner finished.

"And they told us, if we didn't go back to our seats, they'll hurt your friends." Luna added.

"Don't worry, I asked Goodwin to release them and he said yes, so it's alright. So get out of here now."

"One problem, they blocked the entrance." Yanagi said.

"Great…" Kurogasa sighed, but then after he sat down with them. "I guess, we'll watch the rest of the tournament."

Yusei rode his crimson runner up to the starting line to the starting line. On his screen, Yusei saw an image of Rally, Blitz, Tank, and Nervin, crowded around the video screen. "They're okay."

"Are you happy?" Jack suddenly appeared next to him on the starting line. "You finally get a chance to settle the score with me."

"I guess so..."

Sayer kept watching as he was about to watch the final battle begin. _'So you're really going to try and summon the Crimson Dragon. This should be interesting...'_ Sayer thought.

Back at the track…

"This is it! I'm finally gonna show you that you don't have what it takes to be the best, Yusei, you never have!"

"Are you even sure we should be doing this right now, Jack? There's still a lot we don't know about the Crimson Dragon."

"This is exactly what I'm talking about!" Jack laughed. "You have no guts, Yusei! You never wanna take any risks! Don't tell me you came all this way just to chicken out now, are you?"

"...No way."

"ALRIGHT, THIS IS IT! THE MOMENT WE'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR! EVERY DUEL AND CARD HAS LED UP TO THIS POINT! TURBO DUELISTS, ACTIVATE YOUR SPEED WORLD!" The MC announced.

"FI-RUDO! SUPIDO WARUDO! SETTO ON!" Both duelists shouted as they pressed a button on their runners.

"**DUEL MODE. AUTOPILOT ON. STANDBY."**

The words 'DUEL MODE' appeared on both screens and the screens then showed the playing field and their speed counters. A purple aura shot out of both duel runners. "THIS IS IT PEOPLE! THEY ACTIVATED SPEED WORLD MEANING THAT THE ONLY SPELLS THEY CAN PLAY ARE SPEED SPELLS! ALSO, THE FIRST DUELIST TO TURN THE FIRST CORNER GOES FIRST!"

"RIDING DUEL, ACCELERATION!"

Both duelists then sped off very fast, they were neck and neck until was the first to turn the corner. Both duelists, drew their hand.

**Yusei: **4000/**SPC: **0

**Jack: **4000/**SPC: **0

"The first move's mine! Ore no ta-n!" Yusei drew his sixth card. "I'll start out by summoning my Shield Wing in defense mode!" a green dragonoid creature appeared and folded its wings in front of itself for protection (2) (ATK: 0/DEF: 900). "Next I place two cards face-down and end my turn!"

"Alright then, let's see how you like this. Ore no taa-n!" Jack said and drew a card.

**Yusei's SPC:** 1

**Jack's SPC:** 1

"I summon Mad Archfiend in attack mode!" A demonic man with wild, red hair, dressed in baggy, yellow trousers with a body divided by a pair of jaws with a skull between them appeared and floated next to Jack. (4) (ATK: 1800/DEF: 0). "You may have just scrapped your way to the title match, but those other duelists were just amateurs compared to me! Now allow Mad Archfiend to give you a proper welcome to the big leagues, Yusei! Mad Archfiend, attack his Shield Wing!" Jack ordered. Mad Archfiend cackled and his abdominal jaws chewed up the skull, spitting out a hail of bone fragments that tore into the green dragonoid. "Also, whenever he attacks a defensive monster, you take piercing damage!"

**Yusei:** 3100/**SPC:** 1

**Jack:** 4000/**SPC:** 1

"Did you forget that Shield Wing can't be destroyed in one attack?" Yusei asked.

"I haven't forgotten! I'm just showing you why defense mode is a loser's way out against me! And I end my turn with two facedown cards!" He concluded as two facedown cards appeared on the track before vanishing. "You can't defeat me, Yusei!"

"Say that after you beat me! Ore no ta-n!" Yusei drew.

**Yusei's SPC:** 2

**Jack's SPC:** 2

"I activate the speed spell, Angel Baton!" the Satellite announced, playing the card. "You know the drill; I draw two cards from my deck and then send one of the cards in my hand to the graveyard!" Yusei complied with the effects of his spell card, before playing another monster card. "From my hand I summon Junk Synchron!" Yusei's signature orange tuner monster appeared on the field (3) (ATK: 1300/DEF: 500). "Then, I use his special ability to summon the Quillbolt Hedgehog that I lost from Angel Baton!" With a wave of his hand, the Synchron monster created another portal to return the orange hedgehog with bolts sticking out of its back from the graveyard. "And now I'm gonna tune my level 2 Shield Wing and Level 2 Quillbolt Hedgehog with my level 3 Junk Synchron!" Junk Synchron pulled his ripcord and turned into three green rings while Shield Wing and Quillbolt Hedgehog turned into 4 stars. The stars lined up in the tunnel of rings.

"_Tsudoishi gun ga, inazuma no yō ni hayaku, hādo ni kamitsuku! Hikari sasu michi to nare! Shinkuro Shoukan! Uchisuero, Raichuningu Woriā!"_

From the eruption of light, a warrior with wild blond hair clad in pure white armor with sapphires inside it, and tattered red scarves were wrapped around his waist and neck appeared (7) (ATK: 2400/DEF: 1200). "Attack his Mad Archfiend with Lightning Blast!" Yusei ordered. The sapphires glowed blue and then lightning shot out going for the archfiend.

"It switches to defense mode after it's targeted for an attack!" Jack countered as Mad Archfiend got on one knee and crossed its arms together, but it didn't help as Mad Archfiend was destroyed into pixels.

"But when Lightning Warrior destroys a monster in battle, you take 300 points of damage for every card in your hand!" Yusei said. The cards in Jack's hand glowed with electricity and it went directly to Jack shocking him in the process.

**Yusei:** 3100/**SPC:** 2

**Jack:** 3100/**SPC:** 2

"Also, I activate Synchro Blast! When a synchro monster on my side of the field attacks, you get dealt 500 points of damage!" Yusei added as the trap card shot a beam of light and Jack took the hit.

**Yusei:** 3100/**SPC:** 2

**Jack:** 2600/**SPC:** 2

"Never in my life, would I think you'd take a cheap shot at my points, Yusei!" Jack shouted.

"It's your move, Jack!"

"And I'll take it! Ore no taa-n!"

**Yusei's SPC:** 3

**Jack's SPC: **3

"I summon the tuner monster, Dark Tinker!" Emerging from a dark portal, a small fiend with a round body and six long arms carrying a small tool in each hand appeared. (2) (ATK: 1000/DEF: 1300)

"Next, I activate one of my facedown cards, Powerful Rebirth to bring back my Mad Archfiend! And when a monster is revived with Powerful Rebirth, it gains 100 attack and defense points plus one level!" A portal opened and Mad Archfiend was back on the field.

(4-5) (ATK: 1900/DEF: 100)

"Now I tune my level 5 Mad Archfiend with my level 2 Dark Tinker!" Jack shouted as the spider-like creature turned into 2 green rings and Mad Archfiend into 5 stars. The stars lined up in the tunnel of rings.

"_Kurai ō wa kon jōshō shi, zettai-tekina chikara to shi o tsukasadoru! Kurayami no naka de sekai o hikitsugu toki ni wa jihi o miseru! Shinkuro Shoukan! Ruru, Tenkeio Burakku Hairanda!_

A dark light erupted from the rings, bringing out a warrior with pitch black armor, skeletal helmet and regal cape, carrying an immense scythe in his hands. He let out a cold laugh, staring down at Yusei. (7) (ATK: 2800/DEF: 2300). Just then, some ominous clouds started to form over.

"What's that?" Luna gasped as she looked up at the sky. Everyone else looked and saw that the skies were ominously clouded over.

"I don't think the forecast called for scary purple clouds!" Leo said, scared.

"Maybe... it's a sign...!" Yanagi whimpered. "The Crimson Dragon maybe coming! If he's coming then we should all get going!"

"Take it easy, gramps. I mean, it's probably just some acid rain drifting in from the Satellite." Tanner assured.

"Acid rain clouds are not colored purple." Kurogasa corrected_. 'Still, Yanagi's right. If the Crimson Dragon is coming, it could get dangerous and people could get hurt.' _He thought. He then also realized something. _'Oh man, what if it gets to not just everyone in here, but out_ there _too? Akiza's out there. I have to check on her.'_ He thought as he quickly left the stands without anyone noticing.

"It's the sign we've been waiting for." Goodwin said pleased looking at the clouds. "Soon the Crimson Dragon will awake from its long slumber."

"Um, just one question about all that." Lazar said to Goodwin. "We already have five Signers, no? We have Miss Luna, Akiza, Yusei, Mr. Kurogasa, and Jack."

"Yes. But there is one more Signer we need. And it just so happens that I _know_ that Signer."

"Oh ok, If you know, then I'll just watch this match and rela-" but realizing what he just heard, the Vice Director gasped. "Wait, you know? Who is it? I-is that Signer here? How exciting! Then that means we can unlock all of its power!"

"That's right, Lazar. But first, we must see if we can harness the immense power the Crimson Dragon's summoning will create."

Meanwhile…

Kurogasa was riding on his runner outside of the stadium trying to look for Akiza. He continued to drive around until he saw an empty parking lot with three bar rails surrounding the parking lot that's tall as ropes for a wrestling ring and sure enough, there was the trailer with psychics surrounding it.

"That's gotta be it. Akiza must be inside." Kurogasa said as he parked his runner somewhere not too far, but too close either so he could get to it fast if he needed to bolt out of there early. He took off his helmet then looked how many guards there were. "Alright it's me against 10 psychics. This shouldn't take too long." The Haos Duelist said to himself. He then darted for the trailer.

"Hey you! What are you doing?" One psychic asked noticing him.

"Stop right there!" Another said.

The ten psychics lined themselves up and then they all charged at Kurogasa. The Haos duelist charged at them and then he did a Spear (1*) on one of them. He then ran over to a second guard and did an RKO (2*). He got up and went to attack a third guard by kicking him in the stomach and doing a Pedigree (3*). Kurogasa then took out a fourth guard by doing Sweet Chin Music (4*). The next one, he knocked out by doing a Stone Cold Stunner (5*). He then proceeded to the sixth guard by doing Trouble in Paradise (6*). He attacked the seventh person he saw doing a Code Breaker (7*). He took out the eighth guard by getting behind him and did a Skull Crushing Finale (8*). The ninth guard charged at him, but then Kurogasa noticed the rail and then using the opportunity, he tripped the guard using his foot and the guard fell on the middle bar of the rail with his head and arms out. Kurogasa backed up, ran towards the rail and did a 619 (9*). After that, he charged towards the last guard, kicked him in the stomach, picked him up and did an Attitude Adjustment (10*). (AN: I'm sorry, I just _had_ to put those WWE moves out there! WWE is awesome! I don't own these moves by the way.) After taking out the last guard, he looked around seeing all the guards on the ground in groaning in pain. "Well, that takes care of that." Kurogasa said dusting off his hands and then proceeded to the trailer.

Back at the Kaiba Dome…

"Now Black Highland attack Lightning Warrior with Dark Scythe Slash!" Jack ordered. The dark robed reaper went towards the white armored warrior and slashed at it with its scythe and Lightning Warrior exploded into pixels.

**Yusei:** 2700/**SPC:** 3

**Jack:** 2600/**SPC:** 3

"And I'll leave it at that." Jack concluded.

"Ore no ta-n!" Yusei drew.

**Yusei's SPC:** 4

**Jack's SPC:** 4

"I activate the trap Synchro Spirits! By Removing Lightning Warrior, I can bring back the monster used to summon him! Junk Synchron, Shield Wing, and Quillbolt Hedgehog, return now!" Yusei said. The three monsters in question returned to the field. "Next, I summon Tuningware!" A small robot with a yellow scarf and a frying pan on its head appeared. (1) (ATK: 100/DEF: 300)

"Now I tune all of them together!" Yusei said as the tuning process began, but suddenly, the highlander's scythe let out a dark wind that knocked them out of the sky and back to Yusei! "But how?" He gasped.

"While Heavenly King Black Highlander is on the field, we aren't allowed to Synchro Summon!" Jack laughed.

"WHOA! WHAT A COUNTER! EVEN THOUGH JACK HIMSELF CAN'T SYNCHRO SUMMON, YUSEI CAN'T EITHER! IT'S PUTTING JACK AT A MAJOR ADVANTAGE!" The MC announced.

"That's not good. Yusei can't even summon his Stardust Dragon with that monster on the field." Dexter said.

"Uh, guys, did you anyone see Kurogasa? He's gone." Leo said. The group looked around and saw that Kurogasa wasn't with them.

"You're right. Where _is_ Kurogasa?" Tanner asked.

"Where do you think he went?" Luna asked.

"Probably had to use the bathroom. When you gotta go, you gotta go." Yanagi said.

Meanwhile…

Akiza was lying inside the glass roofed pod filled with water up to the waistline. She then heard the door to the trailer opening up. "Sayer?"Akiza wondered as she looked outside her pod. But the person she saw startled her. "K-Kurogasa?"

"Hey, Akiza." Kurogasa waved.

The Psychic duelist got over her shock and calmed at bit. "How did you get in here? There were Psychic's posted outside this trailer! Why are you here?"

"Whoa, slow down." Kurogasa interjected. "One answer at a time... To answer your first question, getting in was easy when those Psychics can't use powers on someone who's too quick to the punch." the Haos duelist chuckled lightly. "And to answer your second, I… came to see how you're doing." He answered blushing slightly before walking close to her.

Akiza stared at him with wide eyes. "Really?"

"Yeah." He nodded. "I was hoping my words were reaching you, but unfortunately I was knocked out cold before I could say more than I did during the duel, so I _had_ to see ya." The two were silent for a while until Akiza turned her attention to the ceiling when she asked, "During our duel, did you... _really _mean everything you said back there?"

"Of course I did." Kurogasa smiled gently. "I wouldn't be here if I said I never cared. I can be your friend if you could open up..."

"Even... about your family...?" Akiza continued.

The Haos duelist sighed sadly. "Sadly, yes. The world can be cruel, but you can't just take all of that at face value... you don't have to hurt people back in order to be free of torment." He then held out his arm, carrying his new Signer mark. "And these marks aren't all bad... I wouldn't have met my friends if I didn't have it. I consider you one... if you'll have me..."

The plant duelist looked away from him as she took a deep breath. "Last time someone was my friend, they shut me out because of my powers and what it did to them."

"Well, you can take your time with me." Kurogasa nodded in understanding.

"Huh?" Akiza asked confused looking back at him.

"I don't know what it feels to have some sort of power and be hated for it, but I understand what it feels like to not have a friend. It's very bad, and I don't want you going through that. I know it'll take some time to trust me, but I'll try to be there for you."

Back at the Kaiba Dome…

'_Yanagi's card will have to help me out now.'_ Yusei thought as he set it on his disk along with another, "Two cards facedown, Jack. And that's it."

"Ore no taa-n!" Jack shouted as he drew.

**Yusei's SPC:** 5

**Jack's SPC:** 5

"I summon Twin-Sword Marauder!" The Rapjut warrior with the pair of Katar daggers appeared on the field (4) (ATK: 1600/DEF: 1000). "Now, attack Tuningware!" Jack ordered. The Rapjut warrior went for the small robot wearing the frying pan.

"Sorry, but you'll have to do better than that! I activate Totem Pole!" Yusei countered as a three-section Native American totem pole appeared and the Rapjut warrior took out the top section.

"Keep them coming Jack, up to three times per turn; I can negate your attacks!"

"Alright, I might as well get rid of them! Highlander, attack!" Jack ordered. The dark robed reaper slashed the next section with its scythe.

"I place one card facedown and then I'll help myself to your trap card and use it to summon Trap Eater!" Jack said as a big purple head with horns and teeth came out and ate the totem pole up to pieces. (4) (ATK: 1900/DEF: 1600)

"Teach that monster some manners when it eats." Yusei grumbled. "Ore no ta-n!" He declared and drew.

**Yusei's SPC:** 6

**Jack's SPC:** 6

"I summon Second Booster!" A portal opened and a small SR-72 Blackbird like jet with hands on the bottom appeared on the field. (3) (ATK: 1000/DEF: 500)

"Why summon that?" Jack taunted.

"There's a reason it's called Second Booster. If I sacrifice it I can give a monster of mine 1500 attack points! And I choose my Junk Synchron!" The jet-like booster disappeared as its energy was transferred to Junk Synchron.

Junk Synchron- (ATK: 2800/500)

"Then, I use the Speed Spell – Speed Energy! If I have 2 or more speed counters, then a monster gains 200 attack points for each speed counter I have. I have six, so that's 1200, and I'm giving it to Junk Synchron!" The orange tuner glowed a blue aura.

Junk Synchron- (ATK: 4000/DEF: 500)

"Attack Heavenly King Black Highlander!" Yusei ordered. Junk Synchron flew towards the dark robed reaper and tackled it destroying into pixels.

**Yusei:** 2700/**SPC:** 6

**Jack:** 1400/**SPC:** 5

"Nice! Now Yusei can synchro summon his monsters now!" Tanner grinned.

"Now, I activate Urgent Tuning! During the battle phase, I can synchro summon during the battle phase! So I tune my level 2 Quillbolt Hedgehog, Shield Wing, and level 1 Tuningware with my level 3 Junk Synchron!" The three non-tuners turned into five stars while Junk Synchron turned into three green rings. The stars lined up in the tunnel of rings.

"_Tsudoishi nenai ga, aratana kagayaku hoshi wo naru! Hikari sasu michi to nare! Shinkuro Shoukan! Hishouseyo, Sutādasuto Doragon!" _

A beam of light shot out of the rings and Yusei's ace dragon appeared and stardust rained down on the arena (8) (ATK: 2500/DEF: 2000)"And with Tuningware used in a synchro summoning, I can draw another card!" Yusei then drew a lone card."Now attack Trap Eater with Cosmic Flare!" Stardust Dragon breathed and was about to let out a stardust beam on him.

"Too bad, I play this card, my _own_ Urgent Tuning!"

"Say what?" Yusei gasped.

"That's right; I'll tune my level 4 Twin Sword Marauder with my level 4 Trap Eater!" Jack said as the tuning process began.

"_Ouja no kodou, ima kokoni retsu wo nasu! Tenchi meidou no chikara wo mirugaii! Shinkuro Shoukan! Waga tamashii, Reddo Dēmonzu Doragon!"_

A beam of light shot out of the rings and Jack's ace dragon appeared on the field hovering over its new victims, waiting for his master to tell him to strike his victims down (8) (ATK: 3000/DEF: 2000). Just then, their Signer marks glowed.

"What the-" Yusei said seeing the Tail mark glow.

"It looks like the Crimson Dragon will appear now." Jack said.

At the trailer…

"W-What is this?" Akiza asked seeing her mark glow.

"It must be Yusei and Jack. They've must called out their dragons out. This happened when Leonidas and Stardust Dragon came out." Kurogasa said looking at his new mark that was glowing.

At the stands…

"My mark." Luna said worriedly as her mark glowed.

"Oh no, the Crimson Dragon is coming." Yanagi said fearfully.

"GET READY LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, AS THEY TWO DRAGONS ARE ABOUT TO BATTLE IT OUT!" The MC announced.

And true to Yanagi's words, the dark clouds were swirled violently. Everyone looked up at the sky and huge red flashes of lightning begin shooting out of the clouds, and form into one huge bolt that struck through the holographic sphere, and separating Yusei and Jack's dragons with each other.

"Here it comes!" Jack said.

"The Crimson Dragon!" Yusei exclaimed.

The lightning resolved itself into its shape, forming into the long serpentine-like body, a pair of wings, two pairs of claws, a barbed tail, and a fearsome lizard's head. The Crimson Dragon has appeared, bellowing a ringing cry.

"I SEE IT, BUT I DO NOT BELIEVE IT!" the MC replied rubbing his eyes making sure he wasn't seeing things.

"What is _that_?" One spectator cried.

"It's a third dragon!"

"Who summoned that thing to the field?"

"The Crimson Dragon! It's...huge...!" Yanagi cried.

Even Sayer looked shocked to see this unfold. "It can't be... They actually awakened you?"

"Remarkable isn't it Lazar." Goodwin said as the Vice-Director smiled with glee.

"Crimson Dragon, welcome to my arena!" Jack greeted the dragon. "Witness your new master rule this duel with absolute power!"

"Jack! Be careful! The Crimson Dragon might destroy everything and everyone in it!" Yusei warned.

"Don't tell me you're scared. I am a Signer, and this is my destiny! Goodwin told me that the power of the Crimson Dragon will help _me_ save this world!" Jack boasted.

"You forget that I'm a Signer too! Along with Kurogasa and the others! We're in this together whether you like it or not!" Yusei reminded him.

'_He's right Jack. You will not fight the darkness that is coming alone.'_ Goodwin thought. _'Legend says that once all five Signers are gathered, the future can be revealed. So with the power _I_ possess as the final Signer, I will now show you what our enemy plans!'_

Somewhere else, far away was the canister that held the forearm, engraved with the Crimson Dragon's head. It then glowed brighter. All of the dragon marks reacted. Yusei, Jack, Akiza, Luna, and Kurogasa all looked at theirs. The Crimson Dragon roared and a furious wind blew, making the crowd protect themselves from the wind. It then swooped down, and grabbed the two duelists in its claws. As for Luna, Kurogasa, and Akiza, their marks glowed very bright and disappeared. The dragon rose into the sky over the stadium, shining majestically as it spreads its wings with its cry.

When the white light faded, Jack, Yusei, Stardust, and Archfiend were racing along a shining white path on their runners, surrounded on all sides by stars and an empty night sky.

"Where are we?" Yusei wondered.

"How should _I_ know?" Jack replied, glancing around the world that had appeared. Behind them, three spheres of crimson light glided along the light road, one containing Kurogasa, Akiza, and Luna were in these three spheres. All five Signers were gathered in one place, but somehow that fact was outweighed by the power this mysterious road of light seemed to hold.

"Where's the stadium?" Luna cried. "What's going on?"

"That's what I want to know..." Kurogasa answered, looking around at the light track.

"Kurogasa! Akiza!" Luna said recognizing them.

Above them, a crimson star appeared, the mighty Dragon Star. Below them was a tall and huge temple that was leading to the Dragon Star. It looked as if it was finished just now. There were a lot of people at its base worshipping and bowing down to the temple as five people stood on top of it.

"Yusei, they look exactly like the People of the Stars!" Jack deducted.

"What are _they_ doing here?" Yusei wondered again.

They continued down the light road until they saw something they could not believe. The five people also bore the Mark of the Dragon.

"Look at that!" Akiza cried.

"They have mark like we do!" Luna added.

"They don't have the mark I have. Why is that?" Kurogasa wondered.

"Jack! They're all Signers!"

"Like us! Goodwin told me about these people! He said somehow we're all linked to the Crimson Dragon!" The Signers continued as they flew over the shrine, and then something else was showing. "Look down there!" Jack said.

"It looks like the Satellite!" Yusei said.

As they looked down at it, purple fire erupted from the ground with precision as it formed a shape over the run-down island.

"What the- What's happening?" Luna cried.

"Is that a giant spider surrounding it?" Akiza pointed to the ruined city. It was true when the purple flames formed a huge mark of a violet spider.

"That spider mark, I feel like I've seen it before. Where was this?" Kurogasa pondered.

"I can't believe this is happening! We have to stop it!" Yusei exclaimed.

"It can't be real...! Is this… the future?" Jack wondered.

"Well if that's the future then we'd better stop this duel right now! We gotta get home!"

"We will... once we finish this."

"What?"

"Yusei, this is a duel! The Crimson Dragon won't let either of us go back until one of us wins!"

"Come on!"

"Don't you get it? Dueling brought us here and dueling is gonna bring us back home! And whoever wins will show the Crimson Dragon they deserve the power to save the world! And I'm gonna be that person!"

"You're nuts!" Yusei groaned frustrated. "But if you wanna keep dueling, you'll get more than you bargained for, Jack! I set one card facedown and end my turn!" Yusei concluded.

"Aww, couldn't do thing to help yourself. Well, fine by me! Ore no taa-n!" Jack taunted as he drew.

**Yusei's SPC:** 7

**Jack's SPC:** 6

"Red Dragon Archfiend! Attack Stardust Dragon with Absolute Powerforce!" Jack ordered. Jack's dragon pulled back one of its arms and thrust forward with fire surrounding its fist and was going for Stardust Dragon.

"Sorry, but I activate my Power Frame trap card! This card negates your attack and my dragon receives attack points equal to difference of damage!" A cube made of rods appeared, blocked the attack and gave power to Stardust Dragon.

Stardust Dragon: (ATK: 3000/DEF: 2000)

"Then I'll just do this! I activate the Speed Spell – Sonic Buster! When I have at least or more 4 speed counters, you take damage equal to half of one of my monster's attack points! Since my Red Dragon Archfiend is the only one that fits the bill, you take 1500 points of damage!" Pink energy glowed from the card to Jack's Dragon and then to Yusei. Yusei cried out in pain as he took the hit.

**Yusei:** 1200/**SPC:** 6

**Jack:** 1400/**SPC:** 6

"Yusei!" Kurogasa and Luna cried.

"That attack was real, like how _I_ duel." Akiza gasped. Jack noticed this as well.

'_It seems now that attacks here are real. Maybe the Crimson Dragon wants us to play for keeps. Fine by me.'_ Jack thought. "I place one card facedown and end my turn."

'_What was that? That attack felt real.'_ Yusei thought as he tried to regain composure. _'C'mon Yusei, don't lose focus now!' _"Ore no ta-n!" Yusei declared as he drew.

**Yusei's SPC:** 7

**Jack's SPC:** 7

"I set one card facedown and end my turn." Yusei said.

"Ore no taa-n!" Jack drew.

**Yusei's SPC:** 8

**Jack's SPC:** 8

"I activate the trap card, Reckless Greed to draw two more cards, but I can't draw for the next two turns!" Jack said and then drew two cards. "Next I activate the Speed Spell Overboost giving me four more speed counters!" Jack's duel runner increased with speed and at its highest as well he went past Yusei.

**Yusei's SPC:** 8

**Jack's SPC:** 12

"He's already full on speed counters?" Yusei asked.

"I'm not done yet! I use the speed spell, Accelerator Draw! When I have 12 speed counters, I can two cards!" Jack drew another two. "Now I'll play the card that will defeat you! Go, speed spell, The End of the Storm! If I have 10 or more speed counters, every card is destroyed on the field, plus you take 300 points of damage for each card!" Jack said as a storm began to brew!

"Sorry, but Stardust Dragon's effect will take of care of that! Victim Sanctuary!" Yusei shouted as Stardust Dragon disappeared into stardust and the stardust calmed the storm.

"You fell for it! End of the Storm was a decoy so I can get rid of your dragon! Red Dragon Archfiend, attack Yusei's life points directly with Absolute Powerforce!" Jack ordered. The demonic dragon threw a fire punch at Yusei and was about to hit.

"I activate Defense Draw! If I'm about to take damage, I get zero, plus I get to draw a card!" Yusei countered as a shield protected Yusei from the attack and after it resolved, Yusei drew a card.

"Fine then, I summon Fire Trooper!" Soon, a small, purple demon with flames coming from its wings and head appeared with a small cackle. (3) (ATK: 1000/DEF: 1000) "And when it's summoned successfully, I can send it to the graveyard and deal 1000 points of damage!"

"Oh no!" Luna cried.

"This is not gonna be pretty…" Kurogasa muttered. The purple flame demon flew over to Yusei and then self-destructed at point blank range. Yusei cried out in pain.

**Yusei:** 200/**SPC:** 6

**Jack:** 1400/**SPC:** 12

"Yusei!" Kurogasa, Luna, and Akiza, cried as his runner wobbled and was about to fall off the track.

"Oh man, he's gonna fall!" Kurogasa cried. But Yusei was able to get back in control and kept his runner on the track.

"I end my turn. Now thanks to Overboost, my speed counters falls to one." Jack said and true to his word, Jack's Wheel of Fortune slowed down dramatically, as he was now behind Yusei, but Jack didn't care, because he knew he won this.

**Yusei's SPC:** 6

**Jack's SPC:** 1

"Now that your turns done, Stardust Dragon returns!" Yusei said as a portal opened and Yusei's ace dragon was back on the field.

"Just face it Yusei, I already won! No matter what card you draw now, it won't matter! I'll take first place and you'll just have to settle for second!" Jack taunted.

"It's not over until the last card is played, and I won't settle for anything! Ore no… ta-n!" Yusei yelled as drew what could be his final card.

**Yusei's SPC:** 7

**Jack's SPC:** 2

Yusei looked at the card and smirked.

"Was that a smile I just saw?" Luna asked.

"Looks like it, It's gotta be a good card Yusei drew." Kurogasa said.

"What did he draw?" Akiza asked.

"I win" Yusei stated.

"What are you talking about?" Jack asked.

"I just drew the card I needed to win this duel and to get us home! I activate the speed spell, Final Attack!"

"NO!" Jack cried.

"Yes! With more than 5 speed counters and getting rid two of them, Stardust Dragon's attack doubles! And you know what that means." Yusei said as Stardust Dragon glowed a blue aura gaining more power. (AN: I'm using the Reverse of Arcadia version of this speed spell just for this situation only.)

Stardust Dragon- (ATK: 5000/DEF: 2000)

**Yusei's SPC:** 5

**Jack's SPC:** 2

"Yeah! How do ya like that Jack?" Kurogasa taunted.

"NO! This isn't supposed to end this way!" Jack shouted angrily.

"Well it _is _going to end this way! Stardust Dragon, attack Red Dragon Archfiend! End this duel and take us home! Cosmic Flare!" Yusei yelled. Stardust Dragon breathed a stardust beam at the demonic dragon. It was big enough to engulf Jack and Archfiend both and they were driving right into it. Archfiend roars in agony, while Jack lets out a horrified yell.

A light flashed and Jack's runner skid across the track, tossing rider onto the asphalt as it flips over, Yusei side-skid really hard and came to a halt at the other end of the track, breathing heavily. Stardust Dragon and Red Dragon Archfiend are grey and frozen not moving an inch.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WE SEEM TO BE EXPERIENCING SOME TECHINICAL DIFFICULTIES AT THIS MOMENT! YOUR PAITENCE IS APPRECIATED AS WE TRY TO SORT THIS MATTER OUT…" the MC tried hard not to panic and whispered harshly at the cameramen, "Can someone tell me why these two dragons have been frozen in midair? Get the Director on the line!" The MC ordered. Just then, the two dragons began to blur, then glowed a bright light and then vanished into pixels.

"What just happened?" Tanner asked in amazement.

"First they were dueling, then they disappeared!" Yanagi gasped.

"And now they're back and their dragons are gone!" Dexter added.

Leo looked at the scoreboard and his eyes grew big. "Guys, look at the score!" The group looked to see and they couldn't believe what they saw.

**Yusei:** 200/**SPC:** 7

**Jack:** 0/**SPC:** 0

"Is that the right score?" Dexter asked.

"Yusei won..." Luna said softly. "He's the champion now."

"HE'S WHAAAAA?" Everyone gasped.

"Yusei won...?" Sayer asked himself. Just then his phone rang. "What is it? Now's not a good time!" He hissed.

"_We have a problem sir! There's an intruder in Akiza's trailer!"_ The guy on the other end panicked.

"WHAT?" Sayer said angrily as he hanged up the phone and went straight over there.

At the trailer…

"We're back." Akiza said now back in the pod.

"It looks that way." Kurogasa added.

At the private box…

"JACK LOOOST?" Lazar asked incredulously and all freaked-out. Goodwin was just as calm as ever.

At the track…

Yusei got off his bike and raced over to Jack. "Are you okay?"

The now-former champion took a great effort to at least lift his head up and look at Yusei. "You beat me... I don't know how you did it, Yusei... but you're the champ, now."

"Now's not the time to think about that! If that vision was true, none of this matters!" Yusei said. "Because it looks like we all might lose. We're in danger and our cities might be destroyed, and we have to unite to stop it from happening!"

"If you want to save the world… then go ahead and be the hero... You've wanted to be one… now's your chance…" After those last words, Jack passed out.

"Has anyone heard from the Director?" The MC asked as he was about to go insane until Goodwin came just in time on a holo-screen, "The duel's over. The winner is Yusei; tell them all." Goodwin said and then the holo-screen was off.

"Ugh...Ah... Guh! IT'S OVER!" the MC screamed. "NO ONE EXPECTED THIS! FROM THE SLUMS OF SATELLITE, HE NOW REIGNS SUPREME! HE IS THE FIRST SATELLITE-BORN KING OF ALL TURBO DUELS! I PRODULY PRESENT NEW DOMINO CITY'S NEW CHAMPION AND HERO, YUSEEEEEEI FUDOOOOO!"

WHEW! All done! Stardust Accelerator and Fortune Cup is now finally over. I'll take a break from this story for a while, so I can get back to my other stories. This story _will_ continue to the Dark Signer Arc. So until the next chapter, see ya later!

(1*)- Spear is owned by Edge

(2*)- RKO is owned by Randy Orton

(3*)- Pedigree is owned by Triple H

(4*)- Sweet Chin Music is owned by Shawn Michaels

(5*)- Stone Cold Stunner is owned by "Stone Cold" Steve Austin

(6*)- Trouble in Paradise is owned by Kofi Kingston

(7*)- Code Breaker is owned by Chris Jericho

(8*)- Skull Crushing Finale is owned by The Miz

(9*)- 619 is owned by Rey Mysterio

(10*)- Attitude Adjustment is owned by John Cena

I do not own these WWE moves. If you don't know what these moves are, look them up on YouTube.

(1)- Clustering forces will strike fast and hard as lightning! Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon, Strike down, Lightning Warrior!

(2)- The dark king will now rise and rule the dead with absolute power! Show no mercy when taking over the world with darkness! Synchro Summon! Rule, Heavenly King Black Highland!


	27. Chapter 25: Dark Times Approaching

Hey there guys! Let's continue on with the story of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Stardust Accelerator! Or should I say Stardust Accelerator: Rise of the Earthbounds! As you have known already, I've changed the title and the summary, but the story is still continuing. Now let's start!

Disclaimer: Again, I do not own anything except for my OC and deck.

Chapter 25: Dark Times Approaching

Sayer ran as fast as he can. He was heading towards the trailer to where Akiza was after hearing that there was an intruder in her trailer. _'It better not be who I think it is…'_ Sayer thought angrily. He ran until he got to the trailer where the guards were still on the ground groaning in pain. He came up to one of them and grabbed him by the collar.

"Where's the intruder?" Sayer asked.

"In there…" The guard groaned lifting has hand pointing to the entrance. Sayer let go and then went inside. But when he got there, there was no one but Akiza. She was still lying in the pod filled with water and she was… fine. "Akiza, are you okay?" He asked running up to her.

"I'm fine Sayer." She replied.

"I heard there was an intruder in here." Sayer said.

"It's alright; I managed to scare him off with my psychic powers." Sayer was glad she's alright, but he wasn't convinced by what Akiza was saying, so he decided to give her the benefit of the doubt until he figured out what really was going on.

"Don't ever scare like me like that." Sayer scolded a little bit.

"Sorry…" Akiza apologized.

"It's all right. As long as that intruder didn't hurt you, it's alright.

Meanwhile, back in Satellite…

"Oh, come on, of all the times, why now?" Rally groaned banging on the TV. After what the Crimson Dragon did, the broadcast was cut short, so they tried fixing the TV. "We're in the middle of watching maybe the most important duel ever and you just stop working? You call yourself a television? Come on, work already! Puh-leeese!" Rally groaned.

"Man, what a piece of junk." Tank grumbled.

"Well, we _did_ find the thing lyin' around in this junkyard." Blitz added. Suddenly, the television bleeped and turned back on.

"Aha, it's back!" Nervin replied.

"_WE HAVE A NEW CHAMPION! NO EXPECTED THIS AT ALL!"_ the MC on TV shouted. _"THE CROWN HAS BEEN PASSED ON TO YUSEI FUDO!"_ On the screen, they can hear the crowds chanting _'Yusei! Yusei! Yusei!'_ Every one of the holographic screens around the Kaiba Dome showed his face. He was pinned down by a triple spotlight as he stands on the track. He looked around at the stands, and at the camera.

"You gotta be kiddin' me; we missed the ending of the duel?" Tank asked.

"Aw, man." Rally groaned.

"Am I hearing what I think I'm hearing?" It all then started to dawn on them. They were really surprised, but Rally was shocked out of all the others.

"They're all chanting Yusei's name!" Tank said.

"So this means that he- he beat Jack?" Rally added. With a high-five in the air, Nervin, Tank and Blitz, did a victory dance! Rally is still staring at the screen, completely stunned.

"Oh yeah! Sweet!" Blitz cheered.

"That's what I'm talkin' about baby!" Tank cheered as well.

Rally stared for a bit more, then suddenly lit up. "...This is awesome!"

Back at the Kaiba Dome, Yusei watched a couple of paramedics load Jack onto a stretcher, and cover him with a blanket before wheeling him away, "Don't worry, Mr. Atlas is going to be fine. We just need to get him to the clinic for some routine tests." They began to wheel the stretcher away. "Oh, and congratulations, kid."

"Thanks…" Yusei replied. _'Jack... What did you see in that light?'_ He thought, but then his thoughts were interrupted by some jeers from the crowd.

"Hey Satellite, how did you do it?" One spectator asked.

"We know you cheated, pal!" Another jeered.

"You think you're one of us now? Think again!" A third yelled.

"Enjoy it while it lasts, loser!" A fourth shouted.

"Yusei!" the Satellite turned to see the group and the others running towards him.

"Hey, guys. Everyone okay?" Yusei asked.

"We're fine, but you're about to face a brand new enemy..." Yanagi cried gesturing to a barricade, behind which a crowd of clearly excited reporters stood. "The Media!" the barricade was sent crashing down as the reporters all surged forwards, but a lot of Security people still block them.

"Yusei, we can't find Kurogasa." Luna said.

"What? Where is he?" Yusei asked.

"COMING THROUGH!" A voice shouted. The reporters and paparazzi then scattered as they saw a silver duel runner with gold edges ran through the crowd of the media and then stopped in front of Yusei and the others. "Miss me?"

"Kurogasa!" The twins recognized.

"Where were you?" Dexter asked.

"I had to use the bathroom."

"You sure took a long time using the bathroom." Tanner said unconvinced.

"Forget about that, the media's loose!" Leo cried out as the group looked to see the reporters finally getting through the Security by running them over.

"Let's get out of here!" Kurogasa said and they pushed the runners along as they were running like crazy as the stampede of reporters got closer.

At the private box…

"Yusei and Kurogasa are running away!" Lazar complained, still freaked out. "Are you sure you're just going to let them go? Is it okay that Jack lost?"

"Who won and who lost is not important." Goodwin replied calmly. "What's important is that the stars have finally begun to align. Soon, they will become one. That's the only thing that matters right now!"

Yusei, Kurogasa, and the gang, managed to make a clean getaway after being chased by the media for almost half an hour. They were able to get away because they found an underground tunnel beneath the KaibaDome.

"Oh man, that was too close for comfort." Leo groaned.

"You said it." Luna agreed.

"I never thought I'd run that long. My legs are killing me…" Kurogasa complained.

"Well, we can all relax, now that there's no media." Yusei said.

"Anyways, where are we?" Dexter asked.

"This is an abandoned service tunnel." Tanner answered. "A guy like me knows these things. That, and the Jack's Flush told me."

"I have no idea what happened to you in that bright light, but I'm just thrilled that you won the tournament!" Yanagi said.

"I knew you could do it, Yusei! You're the best duelist I've ever seen! You're like, my hero!" Leo cheered. Dexter nodded in agreement.

"Forget the tournament. Remember, the whole thing was just a setup on Goodwin's part." Tanner reminded the group. "And let's not forget, the only reason Yusei and Kurogasa agreed to duel was because Goodwin captured their friends... Until we figure out what the whole story is, we should lay low at the Jack's hideout. Leo, Luna should stay over with us as well."

"I agree. The Daimon Area is the last place those reporters will look." Kurogasa agreed.

"Yusei? I don't know how, but I was able to see inside that weird light." Luna said being a little scared. "Kurogasa and I saw you guys dueling, and... I saw the Satellite being destroyed!"

"Yeah. Was that… _really _the future?" The Haos duelist asked.

"I have no idea. But if that was some kind of vision of the future, then we have to stop it from happening!" Yusei replied.

'_Let's just hope it doesn't come true…'_ Kurogasa thought. Luna looked worried; she gazed at her right arm and rests a hand over her mark. "What _is_ a Signer?"

"Allow me, Luna! I can tell you everything there is to know!" Yanagi said now talking like a professor. But before that, I'll hafta give you some back-story, by thrilling you with tales of my numerous archaeological adventures around the world!"

"Heh heh heh… this could take a while." Kurogasa chuckled lightly.

Meanwhile, in the darkest corner of the Satellite, a hulking red-striped robed figure stood there. You can only see him with a five-pronged candlestick.

"So… Goodwin has gathered his precious Signers and summoned the Crimson Dragon." The dark voice mused. Accompanying him were two more cloaked figures around a table. One was wearing a yellow robe and the other a blue one.

"I think it's time to make our presence known. We must lower the curtain of shadows on New Domino City. Like the great Bard said, 'what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.'" His eyes glowed an ominous purple, he opened his hand to reveal three spiders in it. "The dawn of the spider has come! And soon, it shall cloak this world in darkness." the three tiny spiders scurried from his hand, shooting threads of web upwards. The three cloaks laughed evilly as the arachnids climbed out of sight...

After taking Dexter home, everyone else went to Blister's hideout. Yanagi was humming out of tune as he was drawing something on a piece of paper, while Yusei and company watched.

"Now, keep in mind I'm not an artist. I saw it when Kurogasa was dueling Akiza, but, the Dragon's Seal looks something like this!" after finishing, he held up the picture, showing a red marking in the shape of an arching dragon.

Yusei recognized the mark, especially the end "The Tail!"

"So _that's_ what was on my back when I dueled Akiza." Kurogasa mused.

"What is it?" Leo asked.

"Look." Yusei said as he showed them his sign, which look like the tail from the drawing.

"That looks just like it! Hey Luna, what about yours!" Luna pulls up her sleeve and revealed the claw burned into her skin, "Oh..."

"Same thing too." Kurogasa said.

"According to legend, the Crimson Dragon's head, wings, hands, legs, and tail were split into five parts, and then sealed away as marks on the original Signers." Yanagi lectured. "The marks were then passed down through the generations."

"But right now we only know about four, well; _five_ Signers." Tanner pointed out. "There's Yusei, Jack, Akiza, Luna, and now Kurogasa. So how was the Crimson Dragon summoned if only those five of them were gathered? And more importantly, we haven't seen the Signer who has the Head mark."

"He's right. I haven't seen a person with that mark. In fact no one did. And more confusingly, I have _this_." Kurogasa said and revealed his new mark to the group. That definitely caught everyone's attention, especially Yanagi.

"What mark is that?" Leo asked.

"I've never seen _that _mark before." Luna noticed.

"Me neither, during my duel with Akiza, my fake birthmark changed into _this _one."

"Fake birthmark?" Tanner asked.

"I'll have to tell that story another time. That aside, do you have any idea what it is Yanagi?" Yanagi took a closer look inspecting it like a detective and then looked back at the picture.

"Hmm… I'm guessing that's the Body of the Crimson Dragon."

"The _Body_ of the Crimson Dragon?" Yusei asked.

"That's what I'm assuming, since it similarly looks like the arch on the picture. But this mark is not one of the five main marks. I wonder why that is." Yanagi wondered.

"Hmm… I guess I'll have to ask Goodwin about it if I see him again." Kurogasa muttered. Luna suddenly collapsed when her knees buckled. Yanagi caught her quickly, looking down at her with worry.

"Luna, what's wrong?"Leo asked.

"It's nothing." she answered weakly. "I'm just a little tired, that's all…"

"I don't blame ya." Tanner understood. "It's been a crazy couple of days for all of us so let's try to get some rest."

Later that night, all was still. All was calm. Not a sound was heard on the streets of the Daimon Area. That was until a pair of men walked to the Jack's Flush compound. They stopped outside, both garbed in a black cloak, their faces veiled by the shadows of their hoods. One of them pulled back his sleeve to let a purple mark in the shape of a spider shine on his forearm.

"It's time..."

At the Arcadia Movement HQ…

Akiza stood outside on the porch of her apartment room on a random floor of the HQ. The moon was full and shining brightly in the night sky. Akiza looked at the moon and was thinking about something… or rather _someone_.

"Kurogasa…" Akiza whispered.

Flashback

"_You're leaving?" Akiza asked looking at Kurogasa with eyes pleading him not to leave._

"_Yeah. Yusei and the others need me now. Besides, after what I did to those guards outside, I'm sure your caretaker will come running back here. But don't worry; we'll see each other again."_

"_Are you sure?"_

"_Yeah." Kurogasa then took something off from his neck. It was a gold pendant in the shape of the Haos symbol. It was a little something he made for himself to wear, but now there's something he can definitely use it for. He then broke it in half and then gave one half to her. "Here. I want you to have this."_

"_What is it?"_

"_It's a little something I made myself during my spare time. I want you have this half, so you have something to remember me by. Keep it until we see each other again."_

"_Thank you, Kurogasa... Don't forget about me."_

"_I won't forget you. I promise..." Kurogasa whispered. He waved goodbye and quickly left the trailer._

_End Flashback_

Akiza looked at her half of the Haos pendant and held it close to her heart smiling a little bit. "Kurogasa..." she whispered as she looked back at the night sky.

At Blister's hideout, everyone was asleep, except for Kurogasa. He was holding _his_ half of the Haos pendant. He was looking at it and then looked out the window at night sky with the full moon shining bright.

"Akiza..." Kurogasa muttered.

"Can't sleep?" A voice asked. Kurogasa turned around to see Yusei standing in front of him wide awake.

"Not really. After everything that's happened, how _can_ I sleep?"

"I don't blame ya. Y'know, I wasn't going to say anything before, but where were you _really_ during my duel with Jack? Just out of curiosity."

"I told ya, I had to use the bathroom." Kurogasa said.

"Really? Because Tanner says otherwise. C'mon, where did you _really_ go?" Yusei crossed his arms. Kurogasa realized that he wasn't going to get away with this one.

"Okay fine, I went to see Akiza." Kurogasa said in defeat.

"I'm not surprised."

"I just can't stop thinking about her Yusei. I mean, after my duel with her, and her being all shaken up, I just _had_ to see if she was alright. Her entire life, she was hated, rejected, and was all alone because of her psychic powers. But now, I saw who she truly is. She's just a girl that just wanted to be loved and feel belonged."

Suddenly, both Kurogasa and Yusei's marks glowed brightly.

"What's up with our marks? I never felt it like this before!" Kurogasa winced rolling his sleeve up for a better look.

"Me neither. It feels like it's trying to warn us of something! Like there's some evil lurking." Yusei said. The two Satellites looked out the window as if their instincts told them to. They looked down to see two cloaked men staring right at them. They had a purple glow on their right arm. It was the same spider mark they saw

"Yusei, look! Their arms!"

"They have those Spider marks on their arms! Are they Signers?"

Wasting no time, they grabbed their decks and duel disks, headed downstairs and out the door. They looked around and saw the two cloaked men running. The Satellites went in pursuit. They were getting close to them until one cloaked man turned left and the other turned right on the end of the street.

"Kurogasa, you go that way! I'll go this way!"

"Right. Be careful." Kurogasa said as he went on opposite sides of the street. Yusei went going left and Kurogasa went going right. Kurogasa ran down his end of the street, down an alley, and around another corner still pursuing the cloaked man he's after. Soon the Haos came upon an abandoned apartment. "Where did he go?" Kurogasa asked himself as he entered the building and looked around. He then noticed something in the corner of his eye. He whipped his head around left and then saw the same cloaked man he was chasing. The mysterious cloaked person then ran up some stairs. "Hey you, wait!" He yelled as he ran after him. He continued to chase after him until he got to the roof of the apartment building. The cloaked man was nowhere to be found.

"Show yourself!" Kurogasa shouted. Suspicious footsteps could be heard from behind. He quickly turned around and then saw the cloaked man.

"There you are! Start talking! Who are you and why did you lead me here?" Kurogasa demanded.

"I'm a Shadow Drone. And if you want to know the truth, my master says you'll have to duel me for it!" The drone said activating his duel disk which was a standard New Domino City duel disk."

"So I have to pry out the answers out of you huh? Fine, let's throw down!" Kurogasa said activating his Angel Wing duel disk. Both duelists drew their hand.

"DUEL!"

**Kurogasa:** 4000

**Drone:** 4000

The mark of the Spider and Body of the Crimson Dragon glowed brightly. A wall of purplish flames sprung up behind him and spreads around the dueling field in a circle.

"What the-" Kurogasa flabbergasted. The Drone chuckled evilly.

"You and I are now offerings to the darkness trapped in this ring of eternal shadow. I'm afraid there's no turning back, now. And the only way out is for one of us to win!"

"Yeah, I kinda figured that out the moment these flames surrounded us." Kurogasa growled.

"Ore no sentou! The Drone declared and drew his sixth card. "First off, I play my Double Summon spell card letting me summon twice! So now I summon my Cyber Falcon and my Faith Bird in attack mode!" A robotic falcon (4) (ATK: 1400/DEF: 1200), and a turquoise bird with long tail feathers appeared (4) (ATK: 1500/DEF: 1100). "Next I activate my Graceful Charity, letting me draw three cards then discard two to the graveyard." The drone did as the card instructed. Now I play my Monster Reborn, bringing Harpie Lady back from the graveyard thanks to discarding it with Graceful Charity's effect!" A female harpie with long red hair and a blue suit with claws and talons appeared (4) (ATK: 1300/DEF: 1400). "I'll place one card facedown and end my turn." The Drone finished placing a reverse card on the field.

'_What's he trying to do? Whatever he's planning, it's not happening.'_ Kurogasa thought. Out loud... "Ore no ta-n!" He declared and drew his sixth card. "I summon my Haos Siege in attack mode!" The knight in white armor with a Haos staff appeared (4) (ATK: 1900/DEF: 1400). "Now attack his Harpie Lady!" Kurogasa commanded. The knight charged at the harpie with its staff ready to stab.

"I activate my Negate Attack trap card! It stops your attack and ends the battle phase immediately!" The Drone countered. A clear swirling vortex appeared in front of the harpie and stopped the attack dead in its track. The knight pulled back his staff and went back to Kurogasa.

"I'll end my turn with a facedown. It's your move." Kurogasa concluded.

"Ore no ta-n!" The Drone said and drew a card. "Prepare yourself as I release my Cyber Falcon and Faith Bird to advance summon Dark Tuner Black Phoenix Chick!" A giant black egg appeared and then it cracks open to reveal a baby phoenix bird with small black feathers and wings. It has pitch black eyes and a black beak (9) (ATK: 0/DEF: 0)

"Dark Tuner?" Kurogasa asked confused. The Drone chuckled evilly.

"That's right, a Dark Tuner. You'll see why it's called that because now I dark tune my level 4 Harpie Lady with my level 9 Dark Tuner Black Phoenix Chick!" The Drone rejoiced.

"Dark Tuning?" Kurogasa shouted even more confused.

The Dark Tuner turned into 9 stars and then the stars surrounded the harpie. The harpie noticed the stars and the next thing she knew the nine stars went to her and then started to go inside her. The harpie screeched in pain as the nine stars went in her and then turned into an orange outline of itself revealing four stars in her. Eight of the stars paired up into four and then disappeared leaving the remaining five. The remaining five stars turned black and went around in a circle.

"What the- the stars turned black!" Kurogasa noticed.

"Of course it did. The light is being consumed by the shadows!" the drone answered. "This kind of tuning summons a monster with a level equal to the level of a Dark Tuner subtracted from the level of a non-Tuner monster.

"Say what? So a level 9 Dark Tuner minus a level 4 non-Tuner monster would-" Kurogasa began.

"That's right. In this shadow duel, with the monsters I used, I can summon a level negative five monster!" The Drone said showing a black card.

"No way!" Kurogasa shouted. The Drone spreads his arms out and laughed evilly as the dark stars continued circle around.

"_Yami to yami kasanarishitoki, meifu no tobira ha hirakareru! Hikarinaki sekai he! Daaku Shinkuro! Ideyo, Burakku Fenikkusu Megami!"_ (1)

A dark column of light struck down, then black feathers came out of the dark light and when the black light was gone a tall, slender woman with long, black hair that covers the left side of her face wearing a dark purple, strapless dress with black phoenix wings on her back appeared (-5) (ATK: 2300/DEF: 2300).

"Dark Synchro Summon?" Kurogasa muttered.

"Yes. Now I activate Black Phoenix Chick's special ability! When it's sent to the graveyard for a Dark Synchro Summon of Dark Synchro Monster, that monster gains 1000 ATK for as long as it's card is in the graveyard!" A dark aura surrounded the phoenix-winged woman.

Black Phoenix Goddess- (ATK: 3300/DEF: 2300)

"Now Black Phoenix Goddess, attack his Haos Siege with Dark Feather Storm!" the Drone ordered. The black phoenix winged woman rose in the air and then flapped its wings hard as wind began to pick up and black feathers went flying to the knight like daggers. The knight tried to defend itself from the wind and feathers, but to no avail and the knight was destroyed into pixels. The feathers continued on to Kurogasa. Instinctively, he defended himself and then he was sent flying back and hitting the wall of purple flames crying out in pain before falling to the ground.

**Kurogasa:** 2600

**Drone:** 4000

'_This pain… I actually feel it. Just like my duel with Akiza, but it's different.' _Kurogasa thought as he picked himself back up. "This must be what this flaming circle is for. The damage we take is real!" Kurogasa noticed. "Fine, if that's how you want it, then fine by me. I activate my facedown, Miracle's Wake! I choose one monster that was destroyed in battle and sent to my graveyard, then I get to special summon it! So come back Haos Siege!" Kurogasa shouted. A dark cloud formed over Kurogasa's head. Light shined down in front of him and Haos Siege descended down.

"Hmph. I'll end my turn." The Drone scoffed.

"Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa said and drew his next card. He smiled at what he got. "Oh, you're in for a world of hurt now! I summon my Haos Falconeer in attack mode!" A white feathered humanoid falcon appeared (4) (ATK: 1600/DEF: 1400). "Next I activate my Lightwave Tuning spell card! It makes a level 4 light attribute monster a Tuner. So I'll make Falconeer one!" The spell card glowed green and transferred over to Falconeer giving it the powers of a Tuner. "And now I'll tune my level 4 Siege with my level 4 Falconeer!" The humanoid falcon turned into 4 green rings and the knight into 4 stars. The stars lined up in the tunnel of rings.

"_Shinzou no tamashii ga, piasu no hikari o kensaku to yami o uchikudaku! Shinkuro Shoukan! Araware o, Haos Omega Leonidas!"_

A beam of light shot out of the rings and his white ace dragon appeared on the field (8) (ATK: 3000/DEF: 2500)

"Now I activate my Attribute Change spell card. It changes an attribute of a monster. So I change your Black Phoenix Goddess's attribute to dark!" The woman's wings went darker as it happened.

"Why do _that_?" The Drone asked.

"So I can do _this_! I activate my Darkus and Haos Correlation! If only works if there a dark and light attribute monster on the field. The dark monster's attack points lose 1000 and the light attribute monster gains 1000!" The Drone growled as energy from Black Phoenix Goddess went to Omega Leonidas.

Black Phoenix Goddess- (ATK: 2300/DEF: 2300)

Haos Omega Leonidas- (ATK: 4000/DEF: 2500)

"And that's not all! I activate Leonidas's special ability! It can absorb half the attack of one monster from my graveyard until the end of the turn! I choose Haos Siege, so half of its attack points get added to Leonidas!" A faint image of Siege went into his dragon giving it more power.

Haos Omega Leonidas- (ATK: 4950/DEF: 2500)

"Now Leonidas, attack his Black Phoenix Goddess with Omega Eraser!" Kurogasa commanded. The white dragon got on all fours, opened up its mouth and then released a huge blue beam from its mouth. The slender phoenix woman and dust covered the entire area as it made impact.

**Kurogasa:** 2600

**Drone:** 2650

"HA! How do you like that?" Kurogasa said. When the dust cleared, the Drone only chuckled. "Uh- and you're laughing because?" He asked.

"Because I activate its special ability. Whenever it's destroyed, I can bring it back to the field in defense mode, as long as I discard a card from my hand. Plus, it comes back 500 points stronger!" The Drone laughed. The drone discarded his remaining card from his hand and the phoenix woman rose from the ground and in a defense stance, but it is now stronger.

Black Phoenix Goddess- (ATK: 3800/DEF: 2300)

"Hold on, why is it 3800 attack points?" Kurogasa asked.

"Don't you remember? As long as Black Phoenix Chick is in the graveyard, my Black Phoenix Goddess gets the 1000 points automatically plus, the 500 points she gets every time she's revived by her effect. In other words, she'll stay at 3300 plus the extra points she gets from her own effect."

"Damn…" Kurogasa muttered. "I'll end my turn with a face down." He said and Leonidas's attack points dropped back down to 4000.

"Ore no ta-n!" The Drone said and drew his card. "I play Spellbook Inside the Pot! Both of us draw three cards!" Both duelists then drew three cards. Next, I summon Harpie's Brother in attack mode!" A male harpie with bandit like clothes and long, red blades attached to one of its arms appeared (4) (ATK: 1800/DEF: 600).

"Now I play the spell card, Delinquent Duo! I play 1000 life points and then I randomly discard in your hand and you have to discard a card in your hand. I choose the middle card." The Drone said. Kurogasa discarded that and then discarded another thanks to Delinquent Duo's effect.

**Kurogasa:** 2600

**Drone:** 1650

"Okaay, but why do that?" Kurogasa asked confused.

"So I can play this, Megamorph! And I equip it to Black Phoenix Goddess! If my life points are lower than yours, then monster's attack points double! If my life points are higher, monster's attack gets cut in half! Since my life points are lower thanks to Delinquent Duo, Black Phoenix Goddess's attack doubles!" An uncontrolled dark aura surrounded the phoenix woman.

Black Phoenix Goddess- (ATK: 7600/DEF: 2300)

"OH NO!" Kurogasa cried.

"Oh yes! Now Black Phoenix Goddess, attack Haos Omega Leonidas with Dark Feather Storm!" The black phoenix winged woman rose in the air again and then flapped its wings hard as wind began to pick up and black feathers went flying to the knight like daggers. Leonidas was defending itself.

"I activate my Nutrient Z trap card! If I take 2000 or more points of damage, I gain 4000 before the attack hits!" Kurogasa countered. A small bottle appeared in Kurogasa's hand. He opened it and downed the contents before throwing it away.

**Kurogasa:** 6600

**Drone:** 1650

The feathers destroyed Leonidas and the dagger-like feathers went straight to Kurogasa injuring him with the stinging of the feathers.

**Kurogasa:** 2600

**Drone:** 1650

"Harpie's Brother, attack his life points directly!" the Drone ordered. The male harpie flew towards Kurogasa and slashed at him with his long claw-like blades. Kurogasa yelled in pain and backed up holding his chest and panting heavily.

**Kurogasa:** 800

**Drone:** 1650

"The end is near! Soon, everything will be consumed in darkness and the Dark Signers will rule the world!"

"Dark Signers…? Is that what you are?" Kurogasa asked surprised.

"Of course. Light and dark are two sides of the same coin, so it's only natural that the darkness has its own protectors. And pretty soon, the world as you know it will be destroyed! They a power that will erase your mark and everything you hope to save with it!"

"If you think you Dark Signers are gonna rule world, think again! Because it's not happening on my watch! Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa said and drew his next card. "I play _my _Spellbook Inside the Pot!" Both duelists drew three more cards. Kurogasa smirked at what he got. "Next I play my Monster Reborn spell card to bring back Leonidas!" An ankh appeared above the sky and what took its place was the Haos Duelist's ace dragon. "Then I'll end my turn with two face downs." Kurogasa concluded.

"Heh. What a foolish move you did there. You're gonna wish you never did that. Ore no ta-n!" The Drone said and drew a card. "Now Black Phoenix Goddess, attack his Omega Leonidas and sent this Signer to the shadows!" The Drone yelled. The phoenix woman started up a wind and blew its dagger-like feathers at Leonidas.

"I activate my Mirror Force trap card! It reflects the attack right back at ya and destroys all your monsters on your side of the field!" The Haos duelist countered as a clear mirror protected Leonidas from the assault. The mirror shattered into pieces when it exploded sending the shards and the feathers back at the attacker and Harpie's Brother destroying them into pixels.

"Heh, did you forget my Black Phoenix Goddess's special effect? It can't be destroyed as long as I discard a card to the graveyard and it becomes stronger!" The Drone said discarding a card and the phoenix woman started to rise from the ground.

"Sorry, she's not coming back out anytime soon, because I play my other face down! Divine Wrath!"

"NO!" The Drone cried.

"That's right, by discarding one card in my hand; I can negate the effect of a monster and destroy it!" Kurogasa said as a lightning bolt struck down on the ground where Black Phoenix Goddess was and the phoenix woman went back down to the ground.

'_NO! I don't have anything else in my hand that can help me!'_ The Drone thought looking at his hand seeing that they're useless to help him.

"I take it by the look on your face that you don't have anything else that can help you. Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa said and drew a card which he didn't need. "Leonidas! Finish it off!" Kurogasa yelled. The white dragon got on all fours, opened up its mouth, and fired a huge blue beam at the Drone. The Drone screamed as his life points depleted.

**Kurogasa:** 800

**Drone:** 0

The duel disks deactivated and the holograms faded. The ring of purple of fire extinguished and the Drone fell to the ground. The marks faded and Kurogasa ran over to him and grabbed him by the collar. The Drone's hood was off to reveal a random guy.

"Alright, I won the duel, so start talking!" Kurogasa demanded.

"Wha?" The man groaned. He winched and rubbed his shoulder. "Who are you? What happened?"

"Don't dumb with me! Spill it!" Kurogasa demanded.

"Spill what? What are talking about?" The man asked confusingly.

'_What? He doesn't remember what happened?' _Kurogasa thought. He then took the guy's deck.

"Hey, what are you doing? That's my deck!" The man snapped. Kurogasa was searching through his deck and surely enough, the dark tuner and dark synchro monster wasn't there. _'What the- his Dark Tuner and Dark Synchro Monster is not there.'_ Kurogasa thought. He looked at the man's arm and saw that the Spider mark was gone too. '_The Spider mark's gone too. What's going on? I don't like the looks of this. I have to find Yusei and then get back to the others.'_ Kurogasa thought. With that, he let go of the man's collar, gave him back his deck, and then went back downstairs to the ground floor and went to find Yusei.

And the Dark Signer Arc has begun! Kurogasa used Spellbook Inside the Pot and Nutrient Z only for this duel.

(1)- When dark overlaps with dark, the doors of underworld will be opened! To the world without light! Dark Synchro! Show yourself, Black Phoenix Goddess!


	28. Chapter 26: Return to Satellite

Now it's time for the next chapter of Stardust Accelerator: Rise of the Earthbounds. Also, I'm thinking about skipping Yusei and Jack's duel with their drones, so expect that while reading. I just wanna get straight to the point sometimes. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Same thing.

Chapter 26: Returning to Satellite

Kurogasa was running back towards Blister's hideout_. 'Things are starting to get weirder now. Just what the heck is going on? That guy I dueled earlier didn't have that Dark Tuner and Dark Synchro Monster with him when I won, not to mention that his Spider mark disappeared. I felt like that I have seen that mark before, but I can't remember. And just who are these Dark Signers?'_ Kurogasa thought. He continued to run for a while until he arrived at Blister's hideout. A few seconds after his arrival, Yusei appeared.

"Yusei!" Kurogasa recognized.

"Hey Kurogasa. Did you get your robed guy?" Yusei asked.

"Yep. And I won my duel against him too. I take it that you won as well."

"Yeah. The guy I was after used some kind of Dark Tuner and Dark Synchro Monster and he also said something about Dark Signers too. When I won the duel, his Dark Tuner and Dark Synchro Monster weren't there, his Spider mark disappeared, and he has no memory of what happened."

"Same thing with _my_ guy. He had no memory of what happened when I won the duel. His Dark Tuner and Dark Synchro Monster and his Spider mark disappeared too."

"What do you think it all means?"

"Whatever it is, it's not good. We have to get back to Satellite now. Our friends are there."

"Yeah."

The next day in the afternoon…

Yusei was on the laptop searching for Spider symbols while Kurogasa, Tanner, Yanagi, and the Twins were relaxing. Everyone was informed of what happened last night.

"How's it going?" Tanner asked giving him a cup of coffee.

"Not good. My search for Spider symbols are not showing solid leads." Yusei said.

"I know you'll find a way to save the Satellite Yusei." Yanagi said.

"Count on it. But I still need to find some answers. And there's only one person who has them. I need to find Goodwin."

"But you can't trust Goodwin."

"Yeah. You forget that he's the one who locked you up. He's not your friend." Tanner added.

"And you forget that Goodwin is a family friend of mine." Kurogasa interrupted him. "You already know about my past while I was dueling Akiza, so I don't want to tell ya again. I know you guys don't trust him, but he's the only one that knows what's really going on. Goodwin only told me a little bit about the Crimson Dragon legend, but that's about it. So me and Yusei are gonna find Goodwin and have him tell us the while story."

"You're leaving?" Luna asked. Everyone turned to the twins. "But it's dangerous out there."

"Please don't go." Leo pleaded.

"We _have_ to. The people in Satellite are in trouble and we have to help them somehow." Yusei said.

"Stay here. It's much safer in the city. Who knows what's out there and what if it's true that some big spider is going to destroy the Satellite?" Leo insisted.

"Please don't leave." Luna pleaded. Kurogasa knelt on one knee and put his hands on their shoulders.

"Look, I know you guys are scared for both of us, and to be honest, I wanna stay here and be safe too. But we have to do this, so don't worry. We got ourselves some back up."

"You have a bodyguard?" Luna asked. Just then, sirens could be heard from outside Blister's hideout. Everyone looked outside to see three Sector Security police cars and a runner at the front and Trudge was there too.

"Yep. And though I'm not too fond of it, it's the only way we're gonna get to Goodwin."

"_Alright Yusei and Kurogasa, I got your message, so get your decks and come out already! I'm not gonna wait all day now just because we're teaming up temporarily, you got that?" _Trudge yelled through the megaphone.

"Trudge is your protection?" Tanner asked.

"Yep. So we better consider him a good guy now, if he's to take us to Goodwin safely." Yusei said. Kurogasa then motioned Tanner to come with him to a corner of the room because he had something he wanted to talk to him about.

"What's up?" Tanner asked.

"I need ya to do a favor for me."

"What is it?"

"No matter what, don't go after the Arcadia Movement."

"Why, what's up?"

"Pretty soon, we have to gather the Signers to take on whoever these Dark Signers are. Meaning, we'll need Akiza's help." Kurogasa stated. "I don't want any of you guys going there until I get back; that guy with her, Sayer I think, he brings some bad feelings around."

"I hear you on the Arcadia Movement." Tanner nodded. "A lot of stranger rumors have come from that place, so that Sayer guy could be trouble as well."

"Right, so until Yusei and I get to the Satellite, don't make any sudden actions. I should be able to talk to Akiza without confrontations, since I know I got through to her." Kurogasa said.

"Right, what Yusei said after they took you to the hospital. But are you sure about this?"

"Trust me, it's for the best. In the meantime, head over to Leo and Luna's place. I'll contact ya via laptop ASAP." The Haos duelist stated as he followed after Yusei. The two Satellites went downstairs and went outside the apartment where Trudge was waiting for them.

"You boys got a lot of nerve asking for my help you Satellite rejects." Trudge snarled as the two Satellites walked past him. "Let's get one thing straight though, if you want my protection, you have to respect my authority."

"Who says we need to respect you?" Kurogasa asked. Trudge was getting infuriated over his attitude.

"Watch it punk! You're asking for trouble big time, especially after what you did to me at the Fortune Cup!" Trudge snapped.

"Let's just go." Kurogasa said as he and Yusei got in the car. Trudge glared at Kurogasa before Trudge got on his runner and sped off with the police cars following him. A few hours later, they arrived at Sector Security HQ. Yusei and Kurogasa had been waiting in a room for a while, until Trudge showed up in their room.

"When can we see Goodwin?" Yusei asked.

"Be patient. After all, Goodwin is a busy man. If you're bored, we can always duel while we're waiting. Are you game or are you scared you'll lose your title before your first endorsement deal comes through?" Trudge offered.

"Heh. Now that would be an interesting development." A new voice said as Trudge turned his head to see Lazar. "Though, I seriously doubt that our new champion would fall for such a deal from a man of your caliber Officer Trudge."

"Why you-" Trudge snarled. Lazar just ignored him and turned to the two Satellites. "Sorry to keep you waiting. Director Goodwin is ready to see you two now." He said. Yusei and Kurogasa got out of the room and Lazar escorted them to Goodwin.

A few hours later really late at night…

Yusei and Kurogasa were in a limousine driving through the city until they came to the end of an unfinished bridge. Yusei and Kurogasa got out of the limo and there Goodwin was waiting for them.

"Yusei… Kurogasa… it's time you learn the whole truth." Goodwin said.

"About what?" Yusei asked. Goodwin pointed at the Satellite that was far away from where they are. Yusei and Kurogasa turned around to see where he was pointing at and they both saw that posts as if the unfinished bridge was trying to connect to the Satellite.

"About where you come from and where you'll go." Goodwin answered. "Did you know that it was once supposed to be connecting the Satellite?"

"No, so why wasn't it finished?"

"I'm glad you asked that. Because if it were ever completed, the evil lurking in the depths of the Satellite would gain access to my precious New Domino City. The battle that's about to begin must never reach here."

"What about the people living there?" Kurogasa asked.

"Unless someone saves them, they will be shrouded by the eternal darkness."

"So then why can't you use your power as the Director to get them out of there?" Yusei asked.

"I can't do that Yusei. If the people stay there, then the darkness stays there too." Goodwin answered.

"You're talking about putting many people lives at risk here!" The Haos duelist snapped. The Director turned to them as the sun was rising.

"You came here looking for answers right? So I'll give to you."

"Okay then…" Kurogasa said rolling up his sleeve showing his Omega letter-like Signer mark. "Start with this. A friend of mine told me he assumes that this mark is the Body of the Crimson Dragon since it's similar to the arch on the full seal."

"I see. So _that's_ what it is." Goodwin said.

"You mean you never _knew_ about this mark?" Kurogasa asked incredulously.

"No. I haven't. To be quite honest, I was wondering about it myself and how you had the full seal on your back when you dueled Miss Akiza. I think that because of your selflessness and care for her, and your determination of helping her, the Crimson Dragon has seen you worthy of having a Mark."

"I told her about my life before now; my parents' death, you taking me in, and basically being alone for 10 years." The Haos duelist continued. "No one needs to go through that, and no one ever should. Seeing someone like Akiza going through the mess she's going through now... needs to stop."

"If you think you can help her, good." the Director stated. "We'll need all of the Signers... even if there's someone to replace the fifth Signer."

"So, what exactly are these marks are supposed to do together?" Yusei asked. "It has to be more than what happened when Kurogasa summoned that Savior Dragon."

Goodwin stared at the Tail Mark of Yusei's arm and Kurogasa's Body Mark, while explaining. "Let's start with your Marks, the Mark of the Dragon. It belongs to the Signers, the chosen warriors of light. You two were chosen to bear it for your strength, your courage, your selflessness, and many other qualities. You won't run from the darkness, no matter how powerful that darkness seems. It could take many forms, an enemy or a friend... but you will know it because all who serve it shall bear a Dark Mark of the shadows."

"Like that Spider Mark that guy had..." Yusei mused.

"Not to mention the one my guy had as well..." Kurogasa added.

"The Spider is one of eight marks which represent the darkness." Goodwin explained. "Each takes the form of one of the Nazca Lines representing the mightiest of the Earthbound Immortals. You see, five thousand years ago, the Earthbound Immortals arose in Peru, seeking to destroy the culture of the People of the Stars, but the People prayed to their god, the Dragon Star. It sent salvation in the form of the Crimson Dragon and the Five Dragons that served it, emblazoning the power of these dragons upon the original Signers. Those Signers unleashed the dragons and defeated the Immortals, sealing them into what we now know as the Nazca Lines."

"Of course, the Nazca Lines. That's where I've seen that Spider Mark before." Kurogasa realized.

"Stardust Dragon..." Yusei murmured, something seeming to make sense.

"Indeed." Goodwin answered. "Stardust Dragon is one of the Signer Dragons. Jack's Red Dragon Archfiend is another, as is Akiza's Black Rose Dragon. Each Signer holds the power of one dragon, and so the remaining two Signers will hold the remaining two dragons."

"Then, you're just finding out about my dragon?" Kurogasa added.

"The ancient texts never spoke of a dragon like yours." Goodwin replied. "If I could harbor a guess, it must have fallen in battle..."

"Oh…"

"Wait... you said the Immortals were sealed?" Yusei asked. "How were they freed?" Goodwin hung his head, gesturing to the Satellite again.

"Seventeen years ago, there was a team in this city working on developing an energy source known as Enerdy, designed to be the epitome in energy generation. Simply put, it powers itself, using the energy produced from its rotation to power that rotation. However, the initial system was flawed, and those flaws were fatal... they came together and forced the reactor into a reverse spin. This created negative energy in place of positive... the negative energy unleashed created natural disasters of incredible power, tearing apart Old and New Domino City. That negative energy acted as a key, unlocking the prison of the Earthbound Immortals. The door to the Underworld has opened in Satellite, and thus the Dark Signers awakened there. The war will be fought there, between Signers and Dark Signers."

"Then you have to evacuate the Satellite!" Kurogasa exclaimed.

"I cannot. If I were to remove the citizens of the Satellite, then the Dark Signers would seek new prey here, dragging all of New Domino into that war."

"You built Satellite knowing this!" Yusei exclaimed. "Don't you care if those people get killed as sacrifices for your precious New Domino City?"

"If you want to protect your friends, then you _must_ use all the power you possess to do so." Goodwin said wryly. "The Signers must gather to defeat the shadows as they did 5000 years ago... only that can protect the people of the Satellite."

"So you're gonna sit by and watch destruction again?" Kurogasa gasped. "There are friends in Satellite!"

"But if you need _all_ of the Signers despite the initial five being the number, what about the fifth?" Yusei said angrily.

"Oh, I'm sure that the Signer of the Head Mark shall make their appearance when the time is right." Goodwin said calmly. A helicopter rotor became audible, as the helicopter appeared, carrying Yusei's and Kurogasa's Duel Runners in its cargo compartment. "It's destiny, Yusei... Kurogasa..." With that, he turned and left.

"Listen, it's probably best for you not to go back to the Satellite." Yusei said to Kurogasa. "You stay here; with you Four Signers are still here, and they need your help, especially Luna, Kurogasa."

"I already got Tanner watching out for her and the others." he replied. "Your friends helped me out and I need to help them as well. You know how hard it'll be to gather everyone together... Luna's with us, but Jack is still in hospital. And Akiza's in the Arcadia Movement... we can't get to her, not yet anyway..." Yusei sighed.

"Alright." the Tail Signer said softly. "But you need to be back and try to get her help. You're the only one who can get Akiza on our side... I feel it somehow." Kurogasa nodded as both Signers turned, leaping into the helicopter's cargo bay. Their eyes turned once more to New Domino City before the helicopter lifted up and started to carry them towards Yusei's threatened home...

A few hours later…

"_We're approaching the Satellite. Opening cargo hatch. Prepare for drop off. T-minus 10 seconds and counting."_ The pilot on the intercom said. The cargo hold door on the helicopter opened up as Yusei and Kurogasa started up their runners. _"Ten… nine… eight… seven… six… five… four… three… two… one… Cargo deployed!"_ Both runners fell off the copters falling backwards. After a few seconds of hang time, they landed on the ground and sped off a few yards before stopping.

"Whew! Good to be back in Satellite!" The Haos duelist said relived as he and Yusei took off their helmets.

"Nice landing." A voice called. The two Satellites looked up to see another duel runner up on top of a mountain of trash. It was black and orange and the frame was custom made. It looked… a black bird of some sort. Not to mention, it had a pair of jet-like wings folded on the back. The person in question got off his runner and took off his helmet. He had spiky orange hair with a black headband with two rings in it. He also wore an orange sleeveless shirt with a brown vest over it wearing green-blue pants, tan shoes, and tan fingerless gloves. He also had a few marks on his face. An M shaped mark on his forehead, a dot next to it. And a pair of jagged line marks. One on each cheek, and was somewhat like Yusei's.

"Crow?" Yusei asked surprised.

"You got a lot nerve coming back here." Crow said as slid down the mountain of trash.

"You know him?" Kurogasa asked Yusei. Yusei ignored as he went up to Crow. '_This looks bad.'_ He thought.

"You got some explaining to do pal!" Crow said and balled up a fist and pulled his arm back.

"First things first…" Yusei said as he did the same thing.

"You asked for it!"

'_THIS IS REALLY BAD!'_ Kurogasa panicked in his thoughts as he was about to go over to them, but then stopped when all they did was just some sort of handshake.

"Hey Yusei!" Crow greeted.

"Good to see ya Crow." Yusei said and patted on each other's shoulders. "So what'cha been up to lately?"

"Oh, you know me, still fighting the good fight. Robbing the rich to feed the poor. So I see that Sector Security got ya."

"Yeah. Well…" Yusei began looking at his criminal mark, but then looked up at Crow's runner. "I see you know how to finally use a wrench."

"Yeah. Finished her up last year. She's a beauty right?" Crow asked and then noticed the Haos duelist behind Yusei. "And who's this?"

"Oh, this is Kurogasa Kururugi. Kurogasa, meet Crow Hogan. He's an old buddy of mine." Yusei introduced.

"Oh, you're the guy with those Haos monsters. I saw your duels on T.V. Pretty sweet!"

"Thanks! Good to meet you Crow." Kurogasa said and they both shook hands.

"So whaddaya saw we hit the streets?" Crow offered. There was no argument on that seeing that the three riders got on their bikes and sped off deeper into the Satellite. "So I hear that you're some kind of big shot champion now."

"Yeah. Something like that." Yusei said as they continued on. They finally got to a resting spot and sat on a huge rock with their runners next to them. Then Yusei and Kurogasa told them everything what happened.

"Lemme get this straight. Goodwin kidnapped your friends and forced you into that tournament? And you Kurogasa are a family friend of Goodwin?" Crow asked incredulously. Yusei and Kurogasa nodded.

"Now we need to make sure they're alright." Kurogasa said.

"Well then, let's head over to your old hideout Yusei." Crow said.

"Say Crow, why are the streets really deserted?" Yusei wondered.

"Yeah, why _is_ that?" Kurogasa asked.

"Things have gone weird around here lately. And a lot weirder than usual. Look down there." Crow said pointing at something. Yusei and Kurogasa looked to see two robed guy walking and following them were a few people. "Those robed guys down there are spreading crazy teachings and rounding up followers. I hear they're gathering deep within in the Satellite."

"You mean underground?" Kurogasa asked.

"Then we better look into this. But first, let's get to my hideout." Yusei said.

Meanwhile, deep within Yusei's hideout, Rally, Nervin, and Blister were hanging around in the tent until they heard whirring sounds. They got up and looked outside the tent.

"You hear that?" Blister asked.

"It sounds like a duel runner." Rally answered.

"Sector Security?" Nervin gulped. The whirring became louder and then Rally's mouth widened with a smile when he saw three runners. Two of them which he instantly recognized.

"Yusei! Kurogasa!" Rally said happily as the runners stopped and Yusei and Kurogasa took off their helmets. "You came back!"

"Hey Yusei and Kurogasa!" Blitz cheered.

"Yusei?" Tank said popping his head out from a window of a train car.

"Kurogasa?" Blitz asked as he did the same. The group met up at the opening of the tent and sure enough they were happy to see them.

"Hey guys!" Kurogasa greeted.

"Did I miss anything?" Yusei asked. Rally ran up to the two and hugged them.

"The craziest thing happened to all of us last week guys, and you won't believe it." Rally said.

"Well now that we're back…" Kurogasa began.

"We can set things straight." Yusei said and then turned to Blister. "Hey Blister thanks for looking out for my friends."

"Yeah. We owe ya one." Kurogasa said.

"No worries." Blister said.

"Hey Kurogasa, did you manage to get your memories back?" Rally asked.

"Yep. And it's staying with me." Kurogasa smirked. Crow then came up to them and took off his helmet.

"So uh… is this an exclusive club or can anyone join?" Crow asked.

"Hey Crow." Blitz and Tank greeted.

"Wow. I didn't recognize ya at first with the helmet and bike." Nervin said.

"Yeah, well, he's not the only turbo duelist in Satellite anymore."

"Hey, you're forgetting me here." Kurogasa added.

"_This is Sector Security! Identification # AWX-74098, give yourself up now!"_ A person on the megaphone called.

"Heh. And he's not the only one that has a knack for ticking off Sector Security either." Crow scoffed. Just then, something fell in the crack above them. It was a ball and smoke came out.

"Damn, they're trying to smoke us out." Kurogasa said.

"We need to split up. Let's meet at the Daedalus Bridge in two hours. That's where my hideout is." Crow suggested.

Meanwhile…

A Sector Security truck was on top of them near the hideout.

"_Come on out Crow, you can't hide forever!"_ One officer said. Just then, Crow came out of the tunnel and sped off. "There he goes! You won't escape with our new Pursuit Bot!" The officer said as a small floating machine came out of the truck and chased after Crow.

"Wow, they got new toys." Crow mocked as he went faster with the Pursuit Bot chasing him. "This will be a tough one to shake."

"Need some help?" A voice asked as he saw Yusei and Kurogasa joining them.

"What are you guys doing here?" Crow asked.

"Well someone needs to babysit you." Yusei smirked with Crow laughing.

"Hey, it's Yusei Fudo and Kurogasa Kururugi! What are _they_ doing back here in the Satellite?" A second officer asked.

"Who cares? They're both aiding a fugitive." The first officer asked.

"Hey Yusei, why don't ya let me and Crow handle this?" Kurogasa suggested.

"Why?"

"Well, one, because I haven't seen Crow's deck before and what it can do, and two, it's been a while since I've kicked Sector Security's ass. Well, not that long since I've kicked Trudge out in the Fortune Cup, but that aside, something tells me that we're gonna be in a tag duel and they can't do three on two anyways."

"Go ahead."

"Cool. You ready Crow?"

"Let's do this!"

"We can't do three on two, so let's deal with Kurogasa and Crow first and then we'll deal with Yusei later." The second officer said.

"Right, let's do this then!" The first officer said, then they both activated their duel disks. "FI-RUDO MAHO! SUPIDO WARUDO! SETTO ON!" The first officer said pressing a button on his screen.

"**DUEL MODE. AUTO-PILOT ON. STANDBY."**

The words 'DUEL MODE' appeared on all screens and the screens then showed the playing field and their speed counters. A purple aura shot out of both duel runners. The decks of the duelists participating shuffled inside the duel disk and the duelists drew their hand.

"RIDING DUEL, ACCELERATION!"

**Kurogasa/Crow:** 4000/**SPC:** 0

**Officer 1/Officer 2: **4000/**SPC: **0

"The first move is mine!" Officer 1 said and drew his sixth card. "And I summon Gate Blocker to the field in defense mode!" A huge slab of stone with an eye on it appeared in front of the Satellites (4) (ATK: 100/DEF: 3000).

"Geez, these Gate Blockers are _really_ getting old!" Kurogasa growled irritably.

"Well, how's _this_ for a change? I release Gate Blocker in order to special summon Gate Blocker 2!" Officer 1 said. The first slab disappeared only to be replaced by another slab of stone. Only this time, with two eyes (6) (ATK: 100/DEF: 3000).

"Great, just what we need." Kurogasa groaned.

"Then I'll end my turn with three facedowns." Officer 1 finished placing three reverse cards on the field.

"About time you guys got an upgrade. Ore no ta-n!" Crow declared and drew his sixth card.

**Kurogasa/Crow's SPC:** 0

**Officer 1/Officer 2's SPC: **1

"Not so fast, I activate the continuous trap Full Throttle! With this on field, from now on, we gain two speed counters every round! And with Gate Blocker 2's effect in play, there's no chance of escape!" Officer one said.

**Kurogasa/Crow's SPC:** 0

**Officer 1/Officer 2's SPC: **1

"Heh. Trying to stop us from using speed spells huh? This should be fun." Crow said.

"Don't worry; I got us the victory, when it comes around my turn." Kurogasa assured him.

"What are ya talking about?" Crow asked.

"Check out my hand." Kurogasa said as he pressed a few buttons on his runners. This lets Crow see Kurogasa's hand on his duel screen. His mouth just dropped.

"You're kidding me! Are you sure you didn't stack your deck or something?" Crow gawked.

"Nope. This is all legit. You saw my deck shuffle on my wrist dealer real good didn't ya?"

"Enough talk! Now I activate the trap Speed Edge! During each standby phase, for every speed counter I have and you don't, you get slammed with 300 points of damage! The difference is two, so you take 600 points!" The small Pursuit Bot shot electricity and shocked Crow.

**Kurogasa/Crow:** 3400/**SPC:** 0

**Officer 1/Officer 2: **4000/**SPC: **2

"You okay Crow?" Yusei asked.

"Heh. It'll take more than that to rattle this guy." Crow said as he took a card from his hand. "From my hand I summon Blackwing – Bora the Spear!" A man almost entirely covered in feathers, with ostrich legs and a strange pink face with a long yellow beak, a black lance gripped in his hands appeared (4) (ATK: 1700/DEF: 800). "And you know what they say about 'birds of a feather flocking together'; because now I can special summon Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind from my hand if I have another Blackwing monster on my field!" A black-feathered humanoid raven with a yellow face and green feathers on its head appeared as well (3) (ATK: 1300/DEF: 400). "And once per turn, I can half your monster's attack and defense points with Gale. Do your stuff!" The humanoid raven gusted wind at the slab with two eyes.

Gate Blocker 2- (ATK: 50/DEF: 1500)

"And then I'll play my other trap Defender's Mind. And with this on the field, I can switch my monster's to defense mode and double its defense points. Nice try Crow." Officer 1 said. Gate Blocker's defense points returned to normal.

Gate Blocker 2- (ATK: 50/DEF: 3000)

"Alright then fine, I'll tune my level 4 Bora the Spear with my level 3 Gale the Whirlwind!" Crow said as Gale turned into three green rings and Bora into four stars. The stars lined up in the tunnel of rings.

"_Kuroki senpuu yo, tenkuu he kakeagaru tsubasa tonare! Shinkuro Shoukan! Burakkufezaa - Aamaado Wingu!"_ (1)

A beam of light shot out of the rings and a man clad entirely in obsidian black armor decorated with crimson markings. His face was covered by a red jewel set into the beak of his bird-head shaped helmet and his clawed gauntlets clenched into fists as he roared, wings of obsidian plate spreading over him (7) (ATK: 2500/DEF: 1500).

"Now I'm not gonna bother with attacking, so I'll end my turn.

"And with Gale the Whirlwind's effect gone, Gate Blocker 2's defense points go up. I'd like to see you get through that Crow." Officer 1 said.

Gate Blocker 2- (ATK: 50/DEF: 6000)

"It's my move!" Officer two declared and drew a card.

**Kurogasa/Crow's SPC:** 0

**Officer 1/Officer 2's SPC: **4

"Now thanks to Speed Edge and Full Throttle, our speed counters are at four. This means you take 1200 points of damage!" Officer 2 said as electricity shot over to Crow again.

**Kurogasa/Crow:** 2200/**SPC:** 0

**Officer 1/Officer 2: **4000/**SPC: **2

"Now I summon Gate Defender and end my turn." Officer 2 said as he summoned a big rock with blue markings, two yellow eyes, and rock-like helmet (4) (ATK: 0/DEF: 2000)

"That card can negate a monster's attack once per turn and it can't be an attack target as long as there's another monster on the field." Yusei noticed.

"No sweat Yusei, I'm about to pull out a victory here. Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa yelled and drew a card.

**Kurogasa/Crow's SPC:** 0

**Officer 1/Officer 2's SPC: **6

"Not so fast you Satellite reject! Now Full Throttle and Speed Edge's effects kick in. Now I have six speed counters, so you take 1800 points of damage!" Officer 2 said as electricity went to Kurogasa.

**Kurogasa/Crow:** 400/**SPC:** 0

**Officer 1/Officer 2: **4000/**SPC: **6

"Hang in there Kurogasa!" Crow called.

"I'll be fine. But _they_ won't once I pull out a one hit victory!" Kurogasa declared.

"I'd like to see you try!" Officer 2 sneered.

"I don't try, I do! From my hand I summon Haos El Condor to the field in the attack mode!" the yellow and white shaman creature with the large Aztec mask appeared (3) (ATK: 1300/DEF: 1100). "And once successfully summoned, I can change the level of any monster on my side of the field and I choose Blackwing – Armor Master's level to be level five!" The Haos duelist stated as energy from El Condor went to Armor Master.

Blackwing – Armor Master's level: 5

"But why do _that_?" Officer 1 asked.

"Because now I tune level 5 Armor Master with my level 3 El Condor!" Kurogasa yelled as the events of a synchro summon happened.

"_Shinzou no tamashii ga, piasu no hikari o kensaku to yami o uchikudaku! Shinkuro Shoukan! Araware o, Haos Omega Leonidas!"_

A beam of light shot out of the rings and what took place was Kurogasa's white dragon with two large horns protruding from its muzzle, one smaller than the other, with two horns just off its eyebrows, and spikes running along its back and tail, with large claws on its three-fingered hands and two-toed feet appeared (8) (ATK: 3000/ DEF: 2500).

"Nice!" Crow praised.

"Now I'll activate a Speed Spell!" Kurogasa declared.

"Hold on, you can't do that! You need Speed World in order to gain speed counters!" Officer 2 protested.

"Who says you need Speed World to get speed counters when you got _this_! I activate the speed spell, Overboost! This lets me and Crow automatically gain four speed counters, but it reduces to one at the end of turn!"

"WHAT?" The officer shouted in disbelief.

**Kurogasa/Crow's SPC:** 4

**Officer 1/Officer 2's SPC: **6

"And with that, I'll activate the speed spell, Count Up! When I have two or more speed counters, I can discard any number of cards from my hand to the graveyard and for every one card I send, I gain two more! I discard one card, so now I get two more.

**Kurogasa/Crow's SPC:** 6

**Officer 1/Officer 2's SPC: **6

"Now to play another one! I activate the speed spell, Wheelie Breaker!"

"NO!" The officer shouted.

"Nice! They're in for it big time!" Yusei smirked.

"You know what means. With six or more speed counters I can destroy every monster on your side of the field and guess what? I got six!" Kurogasa revved up his runner and ran over Gate Defender and then proceeded to run over Gate Blocker 2, instantly destroying them into pixels. "Now to seal the deal! I activate Leonidas's special ability! Once per turn, I can choose 1 light monster from my graveyard and Leonidas receives half of the original attack points of the chosen monster until the end of the battle phase. And I choose to take of Haos Laserman's attack points from my graveyard thanks to discarding it with Count Up! And it's more than enough to win this tag duel! I told you that" A faint image of the robotic monster went to Leonidas and was absorbed into the dragon.

Haos Omega Leonidas- (ATK: 4100/DEF: 2500)

"Now Leonidas! Finish it off with Omega Eraser!" Kurogasa commanded. Leonidas turned around to face the Pursuit Bot, opened up its mouth and fired a huge laser beam at it. The machine got hit and then exploded as the life points depleted.

**Kurogasa/Crow:** 400/**SPC:** 6

**Officer 1/Officer 2: **0/**SPC: **2

A big red X appeared on both officers' screens.

"Damn! They got away!" Both officers said.

"Nice work you two." Yusei commended.

"Nice work Kurogasa! That was pretty good." The Blackwing duelist praised.

"Back at ya. You're not bad yourself." The Haos duelist praised back.

"Hey Yusei, did ya hear about Jack? Some reporter found out that he was from the Satellite and now he's gone off the grid." Crow said.

"He disappeared?" Yusei asked.

"You still pissed about what he did to you?"

"Not anymore. Jack did what he thought he had to do at the time. He thought that if he didn't grab that opportunity, he'd be stuck in Satellite for the rest of his life. I really can't blame for making a choice where he think he didn't have one."

"Wow." Kurogasa said.

"You said it. You're bigger person than I am Yusei." Crow said.

"I guess." Yusei added finishing the conversation and the three sped off to meet with Rally and the others.

Whew! That's 16 pages right there! Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Review!

(1)- Darkened gales, become the wings which will soar to the heavens! Synchro Summon! Blackfeather Armored Wing!


	29. Chapter 27: Friends Then, Enemies Now

Time for the next chapter of Stardust Accelerator: Rise of the Earthbounds! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Same routine.

Chapter 27: Friends Then, Enemies Now

The sun was setting and Rally, along with Blitz, Tank, Nervin, and Blister all made it to Crow's hideout near the Daedalus Bridge. What greeted them was a neighborhood of worn out shacks along with scraps of metal and wood leaning on the walls of the shacks.

"We were supposed to meet Yusei and Kurogasa here. Did something happen to them?" Rally asked.

"Don't worry; I'm sure they're fine. Just wait." Blister assured him.

"I hate waiting." Blister grumbled.

"What if they're caught? And what if we never see them again?" Tank worried.

"Are you trying to jinx us or something?" Nervin snapped. Just then, the group could hear whirring sounds coming around the corner. And sure enough, Yusei, Kurogasa, and Crow arrived. Rally smiled with an opened mouth when they saw them.

"Hey guys look! They're here! Heey! Yusei! Kurogasa!" Rally yelled waving his arms in the air.

"Crow's back!" A voice called.

"Awesome! He's got more cards for us!" Another voice said. This startled the group as they turned around to see kids popping their heads out of the window and then all the little boys and girls ran towards the D-wheelers as the three came to a stop. All of them were just happy seeing that Crow's got more cards for them.

"What are you guys talking about? You still want more cards?" Crow asked annoyed. "I'm not Santa Claus you know." The kids then started complaining that Crow didn't bring any cards with him. "Hold on, hold on, take it easy. Well, I don't have cards, but I brought something even _better_! May I present Yusei, the new King of all Turbo Duels! And the Light Lord of Satellite Kurogasa!" Crow announced as the other two D-wheelers took off their helmets.

"Aw cool! I want their autographs!" One kid cheered.

"I watched Yusei's duel like ten times!" Another said excited.

"And Kurogasa's duels are amazing too!" A third kid said happily. The kids started to gather around Yusei and Kurogasa and just all too happy right now.

"Try to be careful with the guys; they're not stuffed animals you know." Crow said.

"Nah, don't worry about it Crow. It's good to know I got fans out here in the Satellite!" Kurogasa laughed. "Now who wants autographs?" The kids all cheered on that.

Later that night…

Yusei, Kurogasa, Crow, Rally, Blitz, Nervin, Tank, and Blister all gathered around a campfire they made while the kids were playing with Yusei and Kurogasa's duel runners just as long as they don't mess with them too much. Yusei explained everything to his friends. After his explanation, Kurogasa told his story about his past and his connection to Goodwin.

"Whoa! So you're actually from the Tops and a family friend of Director Goodwin himself?" Nervin asked.

"Yep."

"And you're saying these Dark Signers want to destroy the Satellite Sector?"

"That's right Nervin. Kurogasa and I saw a vision of it while I was dueling Jack in the tournament." Yusei said.

"Yeah. That image still makes me shudder." Kurogasa said shuddering now.

"If it's true, what do we do?" Blitz asked.

"I know. We go home, pack up, and then use the Pipeline to get out of here." Tank replied.

"Sounds good to me. If these Dark Signers are here then we should go on over there to the City." Nervin said.

"But you gotta think about the other people here. If things get ugly and they see weird things happening in the Satellite, they'll want to leave too. And if they evacuate out of here, then the Dark Signers will change their target to New Domino City. And we can't let that happen." Kurogasa said grimly.

"Kurogasa's right. I know you're scared Nervin. So am I. But Kurogasa's and my mark have already made us a part of this war." Yusei said looking at his mark. "And if we don't fight the Dark Signers, then there's no hope for anyone."

"You know I'm with you. A crow never backs out from a fight, and I've got my nest to protect." Crow said looking at the kids he's taking care of. "If they hurt your bike, just say the word." He said looking at Yusei. "And they're gone. Seriously, I mean it."

"That's not true. You'll _always _protect us Crow." A little girl said hugging him from behind.

"Can you tell us a bedtime story Crow?"

"Sure thing." Crow said turning towards the two. "How about I tell about the Bridge to Nowhere."

"Tell it!" The girl cheered.

"Well, okay. A long time ago, there were two islands. One island was the Satellite. The people there were sad and had to work all the time. Then there's another island, the City, where the people there are rich and happy." Crow began. Everyone else was listening in.

"Get to the bridge part!" A boy said.

"I'm telling the story, so quiet." Crow said. "Anyways, there's the Satellite and the City. There was one man, who had a great idea. He wanted freedom. He wanted to connect the islands so people can choose where to live. And that's when the trouble began. It takes place long ago in the Satellite when a stranger came here on a duel runner. Nobody knows who he was or where he's from. He rarely talked and he spent every day just looking at the city, gazing, and dreaming.

"Dreaming of what?" The girl asked.

"Of what no one else dared: Making a difference. He found a purpose in life. He knew he had to build a bridge to connect Satellite with the city… which of course is Daedalus Bridge.

"Hold on! He's building a bridge all by himself?" One boy asked confused.

"That's impossible." Another boy added.

"That's what they _all_ said. Everybody said it couldn't be done and that he was crazy for even thinking about it. But he never gave up… Then a funny thing happened. Those people who made fun of him at first gradually started thinking maybe, maybe he would finish it… for those people with no bright future, the bridge became their symbol of hope. Unfortunately, some folks showed up that didn't like the idea of this new bridge being built. Security showed up, construction was stopped, and the person who started it all hit the top of the most wanted list. Everyone gave up on the idea and said it was doomed from the start. They figured he'd get arrested. Eventually, Securities did catch up to him. He had two options…one was to turn himself in and spend his life in a cell…or he could turn himself into a living legend. And he chose to become a legend."

"What did he do?" Kurogasa asked.

"He got on his runner, drove on the unfinished bridge, and flew off. He proved that just because you've been held down all your life, doesn't mean your spirit can't soar through the sky. He was a man not bound by common sense or any kind of powers…that's why he jumped. Nobody knows what happened to him after that. But if you _really_ want to find him…" Crow then stood up. He then points his thumbs at his heart and the kids did the same.

"Just look in your heart!" Crow and the kids said in unison.

"I just noticed. Your duel runner has a pair of wings too." Rally noticed.

"Oh yeah. I'm the stranger." Crow answered.

"You are?" The kids exclaimed.

"Just kidding. Now it's time for bed you guys. The adults need to talk." Crow said waving them off. Soon, the kids went away to their shacks.

"I got a good bedtime story for ya. It's about the Loch Ness Monster, and he and Big Foot decided to build a duel arena. The stranger." Blister scoffed. "That bridge is nothing but a joke. If anyone wants to connect the Satellite, it'll take more than just dreams."

"Maybe so. It doesn't mean I can't try…" Yusei said. Crow raised an eyebrow at hearing this. "It's late, we should get some sleep."

Later that night…

Yusei and Kurogasa were up and while not waking up Rally and the others, they were pushing their runners.

"You ready Yusei?" Kurogasa asked.

"Yeah. Let's go."

"Kinda late for a joyride isn't it?" The two Satellites turned around to see Crow behind them, standing there crossing his arms.

"So what?"

"If you're planning on dueling, I'm going with ya."

"It's too dangerous. Just go back to bed. This is our battle. I've already put enough people in danger." Yusei said.

"Hold on a minute Yusei!" Crow said getting in front of him. "Who's gonna watch your back against these Dark Signers huh?"

"Crow. This isn't just a duel. If you face them, you play for keeps, and I don't mean your deck. The damage is real; they put some sort of force field when they challenge you. No one can get out until the duel is over. During that, you'll be in for a world of hurt, and if you lose, well… use your imagination." Kurogasa said.

"Hey, you guys aren't the only ones who got something to lose. I got to protect my nest. I gotta protect those kids. If you guys lose, then we all do. So count me in."

"You sure about this?" Kurogasa asked.

"There's no turning back." Yusei said.

"Let's do it."

"Well in that case… let's." Yusei smirked.

"But you gotta save some of those Dark Signers for me alright?" Crow smirked. "So where are we headed?"

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" Crow asked incredulously as they were driving through the streets of Satellite. "YOU WANT ME TO LEAD YOU GUYS TO THE OLD ENERDY REACTOR?"

"Hey, you said you wanted to do this and now you're chickening out?" Kurogasa asked.

"Of course not!" Crow snapped.

"I beg to differ."

"Anyways, Goodwin was pointing us towards it." Yusei said.

"Never trust a guy with a ponytail Yusei, but if you say so, try and keep up." Crow said as he sped up faster on his runner with the other two catching up. Several minutes later, they arrived deep within the Satellite. Not to mention that for some reason it was foggy.

"Geez, look at this fog. It's like driving with a blindfold." Crow said annoyed. Yusei and Kurogasa continued to look around to see if they could spot a Dark Signer. Little do they know that they were being watched by one already. He was standing on top of a mountain of trash. "Yusei, welcome back." The Dark Signer said as he raised his arm and on it was the mark of the Giant. Meanwhile, the three D-wheelers continued to drive until they saw a large purple glow before them.

"Tell me I'm seeing things." Crow said. And then out of nowhere, Yusei and Kurogasa's marks both glowed.

Yusei could answer with, "What the-"

"My words exactly." Kurogasa agreed.

We now turn our attention to New Domino City in the Daimon Area. Specifically, on a journalist named Carly Carmine. She's an intern for the Daily Duel newspaper and she's been trying to get a story, but so far no luck. How can she when she has Jack Atlas living with her? Carly helped Jack get out of the hospital and she helped him cope with his loss against Yusei so she was busy doing that instead of getting a story. Anyways, Jack was sleeping until his Wing mark of the Crimson Dragon. He suddenly woke up from it.

"Yusei… what mess have you gotten yourself into?" He asked no one. Just then, the phone rang.

"I'm coming, I'm coming." Carly said groggily and then picked up the phone. "Do you have any idea that it's past midnight already?" The journalist yelled.

"_Give the phone to Jack."_ A female voice said. Jack then just took the phone from Carly.

"Who is this? What do you want?" Jack asked.

"_It's me, Mina. You should know already that your mark is glowing. Yusei is about to duel a Dark Signer. I'm right outside your window."_

"Outside?" Jack asked confused. Carly opened up the window and she screamed when a helicopter suddenly appeared in front of her.

"AHHHH! Where did that helicopter come from?" Carly asked. Jack looked at the window to see the helicopter, but also a pilot and a woman with blue hair and tan eyes, which was on the phone.

"_C'mon, we don't have much time." _Mina said.

At Blister's apartment…

"Uhh… turn off the nightlight…" Leo mumbled as he getting up seeing a red blurring light, but the blurring light was Luna's mark glowing. "AH! Your marks glowing sis!"

"It's Yusei. He's in trouble. Kurogasa could be too." Luna said worriedly.

At the Arcadia Movement…

'_My mark… it's warning me.'_ Akiza thought. '_That vision I saw must be coming true. Dark times are coming. Kurogasa… I hope you're safe.'_

Back at the Satellite…

Yusei, Kurogasa, and Crow, continued driving even though they still see that large purple glow, but then it faded away.

"The light's gone. Is that good or bad?" Crow asked.

"In Kurogasa's and my experience, it's bad." Yusei answered.

"Yeah. Really bad." Kurogasa added. Suddenly, something was thrown out of nowhere and it scratched Crow's arm slightly. Crow skidded to a stop and Yusei and Kurogasa did the same thing.

"Crow! You okay?" Yusei asked.

"Yeah. Sure. Just a scratch." Crow said.

"Where did that come from?" Kurogasa asked as he looked around to what scratched Crow until he saw a card on the ground with the corner wedged into the rock. He got off, picked it up, and got back on his runner. He looked closer to see what the card was.

"Vorse Raider?" Kurogasa asked.

"Huh? Did you just say Vorse Raider?" Yusei gasped.

"Yeah. Why? It's a just regular Vorse Raider." The Haos duelist said giving the card to Yusei. Yusei's eyes widened when he saw the card design. It was an alternate version of the said card.

"I know this card!"

Soon, the three of them turned their eyes in the direction of where the card was thrown from. Atop a slab of rock, a hooded figure stood tall with the blanket of mist covering the face. Silently he lifted his arm to the skies, creating a dark mark, unlike the Spider mark the Signers met up with. The lines along the arm, created the mark of a giant man blazing upon it. A purple shadow appeared in the fog before the three approaching Turbo Duelists. Yusei's and Kurogasa's marks began to glow and burn.

"Sorry!" the cloaked figure shouted, in an insane voice, "Even your precious Crimson Dragon can't save you now! Welcome to the real world of dueling!"

"Who is that?" Crow exclaimed. "Why do I know that voice?"

"Yusei, and Crow too!" the man laughed. "You don't know how long I've waited for this moment!" He then turned to see Kurogasa, who looked back towards the face. "Oh, so you found my replacement for the gang huh?"

"Replacement?" Kurogasa wondered.

"What's he talking about?" the Blackwing duelist asked.

"How do you know our names?" Yusei shouted to the cloaked figured.

"I never forget names, old friend!" With that, he tossed off his cloak, revealing his face. Yusei and crow gasped in shock as they saw a man, about their age clad in similar robes to the Shadow Drones except marked in dark blue. He had cold spikes of pale blue hair hanging over his forehead, his eyes black with dark blue irises, and the scar of a criminal mark against his skin. Adding on to the facial features was a dark grin...

"Kalin!" both Yusei and Crow exclaimed in shock.

"You're alive?" Crow gasped.

"Barely!" Kalin snapped back. "I've gone through Hell because of you, Yusei, and now I'll strike you down with so much of my grudge and rage, you'll be begging me; screaming for the pain to stop!"

"Who is that?" the Haos duelist wondered.

Before Crow could answer, Kalin turned his attention to Kurogasa, staring down at the mark. His wicked grin came back as he laughed pointing at Kurogasa, "This is my lucky day! Two Signer's for the price of one! After my grudge has settled, I can celebrate by sending _you_ to the Netherworld!"

"It won't happen!" Kurogasa snapped.

"What're you planning on doing with the Satellite?" Yusei exclaimed. "You were once our friend!"

"Once a friend!" Kalin agreed darkly. "But now your enemy!" He pulled on a jet-black helmet and mounted a Runner just as black, adorned with sigils reminiscent of the Nazca Lines. With a roar, he gunned the engine and the rock slab exploded beneath him as he crashed down before Yusei, Kurogasa and Crow, purple fires exploding into life and shooting off into the distance, leaving walls of dark purple flame behind. The walls of purple flames separated Crow and Kurogasa from Yusei as it formed a huge mark of the Giant symbol.

"Yusei!" Kurogasa and Crow cried.

"This is just sweet justice!" the Dark Signer exclaimed. "You destroyed my life, now I'll destroy your home! You threw me screaming down into Hell, and now you'll experience Hell for yourself! The Satellite shall BURN!" He threw back his head and gave a bone-chilling, insane laugh that spoke of death and madness. "Prepare yourself for your demise, Yusei Fudo!"

"What's going on?" Yusei asked.

"What's going on is that you're going down to the shadowy depths of the Netherworld." Kalin chuckled evilly.

"The Dark Signers got to you didn't they." Yusei stated.

"No, I'm not a puppet. I'm one of the guys that pull the strings. This mark here is the real deal. Not like the drones that you and my replacement fought in New Domino City. They were just pawns in our little game. We caught them and many others in our web so to speak." Kalin said.

"So you're a Dark Signer!" Yusei said. '_This must be what Goodwin was talking about.'_ He thought.

Meanwhile…

"Damn, these walls of flames won't let us in!" Kurogasa said angrily.

"Let's get to the higher ground and have a better look." Crow suggested. The Haos and Blackwing duelists sped away from the flames and went up to higher ground on a huge hill of rock.

"Whoa. This is freaky. What is that purple neon thing anyways?" Crow asked.

"That glow were seeing is the Giant mark. It's one of the marks of the Nazca Lines." Kurogasa answered.

Just then they heard a whirring sound from the air. Crow and Kurogasa looked up and saw a helicopter and in that helicopter was a familiar face.

"Jack?" Kurogasa and Crow said.

"Crow. Kurogasa. What are _they_ doing here?" The former King asked himself. "And who's that next to Yusei. Pilot! Take us lower!" He ordered. The pilot did as he was told and went lower to get a better look at the person that's next to Yusei.

"Jack? What's he doing here?" Yusei asked. Kalin looked up to see the former King in the helicopter as well. Jack was shocked to see who it was. "No way! Isn't that…"

"I can't go any lower! I have to pull up!" The pilot said moving the helicopter up.

"Jack, who was that? It seems like you know him." Carly noticed.

"Yes. That guy next to Yusei was Kalin. He's was one of our closest friends." Jack said.

"What? He's your friend?" Carly asked shocked.

"Isn't that Jack Atlas?" Kalin laughed. "This is great! With Jack and Crow here, the Enforcers are reunited at last!" Kalin laughed.

"Okay, spill Crow. What's going on? How do you know that Dark Signer?" Kurogasa asked.

"Huh…" Crow sighed heavily. "His name is Kalin Kessler. He's one of our closest friends. Well, _once_ our closest friend. Yusei, Jack, Kalin, and I were part of a four-man duel gang called the Enforcers. There were duel gangs all over Satellite, and Kalin had the idea that since that's no way out of Satellite, at least we could try to make Satellite the place to be by making the streets of Satellite safe for everyone. So we defeated all the duel gangs in Satellite and made it safe for everyone, but then Kalin took it too far."

"What happened?" The Haos duelist asked.

"He started to become obsessed in what we all worked so hard for. He grew paranoid into believing that any duel gangs not under his control were a threat to what we accomplished. He dueled people recklessly even to the point of hurting them. Because of that, Jack and I left the team. Yusei stayed behind for a while, but he left too soon after. Then he did the unthinkable; he challenged Sector Security all by himself."

"Say what? That's crazy!" Kurogasa said.

"Yeah. That's why I said when I heard Kalin doing that. Eventually, Sector Security caught up with him and arrested him. Yusei tried to convince Security that _he_ was the Enforcer's leader. Kalin saw Yusei trying to convince Security to let Kalin go, but the thing is, Kalin thought Yusei was selling him out. I never thought he'd still remember that to this day."

"Man, Yusei must feel really guilty about it." Kurogasa said.

"Kalin, what happened to you?" Yusei asked.

"You didn't expect to see me again huh? Well, in case you were wondering after all these years, Yusei, no I haven't forgiven you for betraying our friendship." Kalin chuckled.

"You betrayed _us_. You betrayed us because you took things too far!" Yusei said.

"I didn't take things far _enough_!" Kalin snapped. "Because of you and your weakness!"

"But I had no choice…"

"You never should've never betrayed me Yusei!"

"You had to be stopped Kalin."

"I was trying to make Satellite a better place! Did you really think that Sector Security had our best interests in mind?"

"Well no, but…"

"They needed to fall like the duel gangs! Satellite needed to be ours and ours alone! But the past is ancient history, so enough talk! I'm going to send you to the Netherworld!" Kalin said darkly as he revved his runner and sped past Yusei, then turned around and sped past him again. "C'mon let's duel!" Yusei reluctantly started his engine and sped off to catch up with him.

"Kalin, I don't want to do this, but if it means saving the Satellite, then so be it." Yusei said.

"Alright then, let's do this! FI-RUDO MAHO! SUPIDO WARUDO! SETTO ON!" Kalin yelled pressing a button on his runner.

"**DUEL MODE. AUTOPILOT ON. STANDBY."**

The words 'DUEL MODE' appeared on both screens and the screens then showed the playing field and their speed counters. An aura shot out of both duel runners.

At the helicopter…

"Mina, can you get their play by play on the monitor?" Jack asked.

"Yes. I can do that. I just need to lock on their frequency." Mina said pressing a few buttons on the helicopter. Then three hologram screens showed up. One showed Yusei and Kalin on their runners, one showed the playing field, and the third showed their life points and speed counters.

At the rock hill…

"They're about to start." Kurogasa said pressing a few buttons on his runner. The screen showed the playing field, their life points and speed counters.

"Yusei, be careful…" Crow muttered.

"RIDING DUEL, ACCELERATION!"

**Yusei:** 4000/**SPC: **0

**Kalin: **4000/**SPC: **0

"I'll start things off. Ore no ta-n!" Kalin declared and drew his sixth card. "I summon my Infernity Beast in attack mode!" A jet-black Doberman with emerald orbs to either side of its neck, and blood red eyes appeared (3) (ATK: 1600/DEF: 1200).

"Oh damn! Not those…" Kurogasa groaned.

"What?" Crow asked.

"I've heard of these cards. The Infernity archetype. They kind of like Yokai monsters. They have effects that activate from the graveyard, but that's only when the duelist have zero cards in their hand. Yusei's got his work cut out for him."

"And I'll end my turn with a face down." Kalin said placing a reverse card. "Come Yusei! I've been waiting for this duel for a very, very long time! Don't hold back! Give me everything you've got!"

"You've asked for it! Ore no ta-n!" Yusei shouted and drew his sixth card.

**Yusei's SPC: **1

**Kalin's SPC: **1

"From my hand, I summon Speed Warrior in attack mode!" Yusei's signature skating warrior appeared next to Yusei on the field (2) (ATK: 900/DEF: 400). "And during the battle phase of this turn, my monster's attack points double!" Speed Warrior glowed a blue aura powering up.

Speed Warrior- (ATK: 1800/DEF: 400)

"Speed Warrior, send that beast to the pound with Hypersonic Slash!" Yusei ordered. The skate warrior skidded over to the beast and was about to kick it.

"Not so fast! I activate my Depth Amulet!" Kalin countered revealing his facedown showing an amulet with jewels and a scythe like blade on the bottom of the jewels. "By discarding one from my hand, I can negate your attack!" Kalin laughed as a barrier formed around the beast and Speed Warrior stopped the attack. "Pfft. You're still using _those _cards?" Kalin scoffed. "C'mon, I was hoping you would already amp up your deck after all these years."

"Really. And how did you amp up _your___deck?" Yusei asked.

"You'll find out soon enough." Kalin chuckled.

"Well in the meantime, I'll place two facedowns and end my turn." Yusei concluded. Speed Warrior's attack points returned to normal.

"Ore no ta-n!" Kalin said and drew a card.

**Yusei's SPC: **2

**Kalin's SPC: **2

"I summon my Infernity Archfiend!" A tall, skeletally thin purple-skinned demon with four amber eyes, clad in a grey shroud appeared next to his beast. (4) (ATK: 1800/DEF: 1200). "Now Infernity Beast, attack his Speed Warrior!" Kalin ordered. The dog-like beast turned around and breathed fire from its mouth destroying the skating warrior and damaging Yusei for real. Yusei wobbled and spun out of control for a few seconds as this was happening.

**Yusei:** 3300/**SPC: **2

**Kalin: **4000/**SPC: **2

"Careful Yusei. Don't spin out of control." Kalin warned mockingly. Yusei grinded against the wall of purple flames for a second, but then got back in control. "The powers of the shadows really suit me. Duels are more exciting when I can dish out real pain. In fact, I think I'll do it again by attacking you directly with Infernity Archfiend!" Kalin laughed insanely. The Archfiend formed some sort of seal threw it up in the air and then a big hand of fire started to slowly come down on Yusei.

"Yusei!" Kurogasa, Crow, and Jack cried out.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA! Prepare to sink into the depths of the Netherworld!" Kalin rejoiced.

"Sorry, but it's gonna have to wait because I activate my Scrap-Iron Scarecrow! With this on the field, I can negate your attack and then it resets itself on the field!" Yusei declared as the metal scarecrow appeared barring the fiery hand from getting to Yusei. After the attack, it reset itself back facedown. Kalin frowned at that.

"Good move Yusei, but you're gonna have to be great to beat Kalin…" Jack said to himself.

"Man that was close. And I know it's gonna be closer because Kalin was never one to pull any punches." Crow said relived.

"No kidding." Kurogasa agreed.

"Next time, play something new for a change will ya? I like surprises." Kalin said already bored as he placed a reverse card down. "Hope you do too because the card I put face down isn't just a trap card we used to use since grade school like that scarecrow of yours. I upped my game. Did you?"

"Don't need to. My deck has never failed me." Yusei said.

"Well there's a first time for everything." Kalin said in response to that.

'_I hope he's wrong about that.'_ Yusei thought. "Ore no ta-n!" Yusei said out loud and drew a card.

**Yusei's SPC: **3

**Kalin's SPC: **3

'_And boy was he wrong.'_ Yusei thought again. "Since I like to do things the old fashion way, I'll play a favorite of mine, Junk Synchron!" He said out loud as he summoned his favorite orange colored tuner monster (3) (ATK: 1300/DEF: 500). "And with the power of Junk Synchron, I can bring a level 2 or lower monster from my graveyard and I bring back Speed Warrior!" Yusei declared as the skating warrior returned to the field.

"Awesome! He's gonna synchro summon!" The Haos duelist cheered.

"And now I'll tune my level 2 Speed Warrior with my level 3 Junk Synchron!" Yusei yelled as Junk Synchron pulled the cord and turned into three green rings and Speed Warrior into two stars. The stars lined up in the tunnel of rings.

"_Tsudoishi hoshi ga, aratana chikara o yobiokusu! Hikari sasu michi to nare! Shinkuro Shoukan! Ideyo, Jyanku Woria!"_

A beam of light shot out of the rings and his signature cobalt-purple colored robot appeared (5) (ATK: 2300/DEF: 1300).

"Nice move, but way too predictable." Kalin sneered.

"Well then how's _this _for predictable? I activate the trap card, Shard of Hope! If I attack and you take damage, I get to draw a card, and if it's a trap, I can activate it! And since your monsters are in attack mode, that damage is coming sooner than later."

"Don't be so sure, I still have my Depth Amulet in play." Kalin reminded him.

"Kalin's right on that. As long as he discards a card from his hand to the graveyard, he can still negate the attack. I just hope that Yusei realizes his zero hand combo." Kurogasa said.

"Junk Warrior, attack his Infernity Beast with Scrap Fist!" Yusei commanded. Junk Warrior flew towards the beast with its jet pack ready to punch the dog. But then, Kalin discarded a card from his hand.

"When I said I upped my game, I wasn't just talking about the cards in my deck Yusei. I got a whole new strategy. Depth Amulet negates your attack!" Kalin said as a barrier formed over Infernity Beast again stopping Junk Warrior's attack.

"Looks like Kalin's got some new tricks up his sleeve. I'll end my turn." Yusei growled.

"And this next turn, could make you disappear." Kalin chuckled.

"What now?" Yusei asked.

"Something new! Ore no ta-n!" Kalin shouted and drew a card.

**Yusei's SPC: **4

**Kalin's SPC: **4

"I release both my monsters to summon a new one! I advance summon my Dark Tuner Nightmare Hand!" Kalin said as his dark tuner appeared on the field (10) (ATK: 0/DEF: 0) (AN: I can't describe his tuner in detail, so… yeah.)

"Oh no!" Kurogasa exclaimed.

"What?" The Blackwing duelist asked.

"He has a Dark Tuner. With that on the field, he can use it to summon a Dark Synchro Monster."

"What?" Crow gasped.

"Yeah. These monsters feed off of negative energy. The stars go black when they are summoned and trust me, from my experience; it's not pretty when the tuning process happens."

"With Dark Tuner Nightmare Hand on my field, I can special summon a level 2 or lower monster from my hand, so I special summon my Infernity Dwarf!" A short, squat dwarf clad in green overalls over a white shirt and grey trousers appeared from a dark portal, wielding a flaming battleaxe (2) (ATK: 800/DEF: 500). "He may be tiny, but like they say, 'Big things come in small packages.' Now I dark tune my level 10 Nightmare Hand with my level 2 Infernity Dwarf!" Kalin laughed. Nightmare Hand turned into ten stars and surrounded the dwarf. It went inside it and the dwarf cried in pain as it went in and an orange outline of itself appeared revealing 12 stars. Four of them disappeared leaving the remaining eight. The dwarf outline disappeared; the stars turned black and circled around each other.

"_Shikkoku no tobari orishi toki, meifu no hitomi ha hirakareru! Maioriro yami yo! Daaku Shinkuro! Ideyo, Wan Handoreddo Ai Doragon!" _(1)

A dark orb formed above Kalin and then it dispersed to reveal a black dragon with as the names suggests, hundred eyes all over its body all glowing purple (-8) (ATK: 3000/DEF: 2500).

"Ugh… man, that dragon is gross. And I thought Plaguespreader Zombie was bad enough to make ya hurl." Kurogasa said fighting the urge not to hurl.

"What's this card? I haven't seen that one before in Kalin's deck and neither did the others." Crow noticed.

"Uh, Jack? What is that?" Carly said.

"Bad news for us." Jack answered.

"A monster with 3000 attack points? I don't have anything that strong in my deck! How can I stop it?" Yusei asked himself.

"If you think he's tough now, wait till you see his attack! One Hundred Eye Dragon attack!" Kalin ordered. The dragon turned around and fired a huge purple bam at Junk Warrior.

"Did you forget about my Scrap-Iron Scarecrow? It can negate your attack and then reset itself after it resolves!" Yusei countered activating it again.

"HA! That's what I was expecting! You see, with One Hundred Eye Dragon, I can activate any of my monsters abilities from my graveyard and I'll start with Infernity Beast!" Kalin laughed as a faint image of the beast appeared in the dragon and all of its eyes on the dragon's body glowed purple.

"Abilities?" Yusei gasped.

"Yes! And here's Infernity Beast's ability! Due to the effect of my Beast or should I say dragon, if I have zero cards in my hand, which I do, you can't activate any spells or traps!" The metal scarecrow got electrocuted, went back into the card and went back facedown.

"So you _wanted _to get rid of your cards!" Yusei exclaimed.

"Exactly! And now, you're going to pay the price! One Hundred Eye Dragon, attack his Junk Warrior! Infinity Sight Stream!" Kalin ordered. The eye dragon fired his large purple beam at the purple robot and shattered it into pixels. Yusei also got caught in the blast and was spinning out of control until he got back in control.

**Yusei:** 2600/**SPC: **4

**Kalin: **4000/**SPC: **4

"And with that, I'll end my turn. Try to hold out Yusei, I want ya to stick around for a long time before I finish you off, after all, I've been waiting for this day for years, you backstabbing traitor!" Kalin said.

"But Kalin-"

"But nothing Yusei!"

"If that's how you want it… Ore no ta-n!" Yusei said and drew a card.

**Yusei's SPC: **5

**Kalin's SPC: **5

"I summon my Rockstone Warrior to the field in defense mode!" Yusei said as a creature made up of only rocks and stones appeared (4) (ATK: 1800/DEF: 1600). "Then I'll place a facedown and call it a turn."

"You're just only delaying the inevitable! But that aside, now you can attack me next turn since Depth Amulet is out of power. Ore no ta-n!" Kalin shouted and drew a card.

**Yusei's SPC: **6

**Kalin's SPC: **6

"I activate the speed spell, Power Baton! With six or more counters, I send one monster to the graveyard and one monster I control gains the attacks points of the monster sent to the graveyard! I'll send my Infernity Destroyer to the graveyard! And since it has 2300 attack points, One Hundred Eye Dragon gains that!"

"What?" Yusei gasped as One Hundred Eye Dragon powered up.

One Hundred Eye Dragon- (ATK: 5300/DEF: 2500).

"And it's more than enough to send you to the Netherworld! But to make sure that happens, I activate my dragon's ability and I'll copy Infernity Dwarf's ability. Now with no cards in my hand, when my dragon attacks you take piercing damage! Now One Hundred Eye Dragon, end this duel and send Yusei to the Netherworld! HAHAHAHAHA!" Kalin laughed insanely. The black dragon fired its purple beam at the rock warrior and shattered it into pieces.

"Yusei!" Kurogasa, Crow, and Jack cried.

"Sorry, but when Rockstone Warrior is destroyed, I take zero damage!" Yusei countered as the pieces of rock that was destroyed protected him.

"Well, if that doesn't work, then I'll copy Infernity Destroyer's ability! Whenever it destroys a monster in battle while having no cards in my hand, I can deal 800 points of damage to ya! You're gonna wish you never betrayed me Yusei! Feel the pain and hell I've gone through all these years!" A huge purple fireball was shot towards Yusei and took the hit. Yusei flew back and was now riding on the fire walls.

**Yusei:** 1800/**SPC: **6

**Kalin: **4000/**SPC: **6

"Yusei!" Kurogasa cried.

"Don't give up man! Just keep riding!" Crow said. Yusei was trying to keep his runner steady. He managed to get off the walls of flames and back on the track.

"Heh. I thought you wouldn't make it that time. I'm kinda glad because now I can get another chance of toying with you before finishing you off!" Kalin said smugly. "I end my turn. And now that my turn is done, my dragon's attack reverted to normal and since I used Power Baton, I can't draw a card next turn." One Hundred Eye Dragon's power did as Kalin said.

"Crow! Kurogasa!" A voice called. The two duelists turned around to see Rally and company excluding Blister who's looking after the kids come running towards them.

"What are you guys doing here?" Kurogasa asked.

"Duh! We were looking for you until we saw that purple glow in the sky. Where's Yusei?" Rally asked.

"There." Crow answered pointing at the geoglyphic track. "He's turbo dueling Kalin."

"Kalin? As in 'Let's take over Satellite' Kalin?" Tank asked.

"I thought he went to the Facility for good and Security threw away the key." Nervin said.

"Apparently, not far enough." Blitz added.

"Is he the one behind the glowing thing?" Rally asked.

"Yeah. Remember the Dark Signers we talked about? Kalin's one of them. He trapped Yusei in this seal and forced him to duel; only this time, the damage is real." Kurogasa said.

"Looks like your runner's about to give up on you Yusei!" Kalin laughed as Yusei noticed his front wheel shaking up bad and it looked like it was about to fall apart.

"It's fine, just wobbly is all."

"I guess that perfectly fits your game!" Kalin sneered.

"Yusei!" Rally and company cried.

"Did you hear that? Looks like you got some loyal friends watching your duel. I just hope for your sake that you will never feel the stinging pain of their betrayal!" Kalin said.

"Kalin's got the upper hand in this one. As long as he has no cards in his hand, he can activate the effects of any monster in his graveyard. Yusei has to deal with that or he's finished." Jack said.

"Ore no ta-n!" Yusei declared and drew a card.

**Yusei's SPC: **7

**Kalin's SPC: **7

'_I gotta turn this thing around or I'm finished.'_ Yusei thought. Out loud… "Alright Kalin, since you have a monster on your field and I don't, I can special summon this card as a level 4 monster. I special summon Level Warrior!" Yusei said as a man in a red superhero suit with a red helmet covering his head and a yellow star in front appeared. (3-4) (ATK: 300/DEF: 600). "And next I normal summon my Hyper Synchron in attack mode!" His signature cobalt robot appeared (4) (ATK: 1600/DEF: 800). "And you know what happens next, I tune my level 4 Level Warrior with my level 4 Hyper Synchron!" He yelled as Hyper Synchron's chest opened up and let out four stars which turned into four green rings and then Hyper Synchron disappeared. Level Warrior turned into four stars. The stars lined up in the tunnel of rings.

"_Tsudoishi negai ga, aratani kagayaku hoshi wo naru! Hikari sasu michi to nare! Shinkuro Shoukan! Hishouseyo, Sutādasuto Doragon!"_

A beam of light shot out of the rings and then appeared the white scaled dragon with pale blue armor coating around the shoulders, chest, thighs and forearms. The head extended out with a blade-like point at the end of the skull and carried golden eyes (8) (ATK: 2500/DEF: 2000).

"Well, well, looks like you finally brought out ace! I was worried that you're not taking me seriously. I guess you say I'm flattered." Kalin said mockingly.

"Well then, this should make you _real _special! When Hyper Synchron is used for a synchro summon, that monster gains 800 attack points!"

Stardust Dragon- (ATK: 3300/DEF: 2000).

"Go Yusei!" Rally cheered.

"Man, Even though One Hundred Eye Dragon is on the field, Kalin never probably saw that one coming." Nervin smiled.

"But Kalin can still activate many abilities from the graveyard." Kurogasa reminded him.

"Now Stardust Dragon attack with Cosmic Flare!" Yusei ordered as the white dragon opened fire with a stardust beam going towards the black dragon.

"Try all you want, because now I activate my dragon's ability again! I copy the ability of my Infernity Guardian! When I have no cards in my hand, the targeted monster is not destroyed!"

"But you'll still lose life points!" Yusei countered. The stardust beam separated into many beams as it hit the black dragon, not destroying it, and then it went straight to Kalin.

**Yusei:** 1800/**SPC: **7

**Kalin: **3700/**SPC: **7

"Good Yusei. You're starting to fight back! What else you got?" Kalin asked.

"Thanks to Stardust Dragon attacking and you taking damage, I can activate Shard of Hope! I draw a card, and if it's a trap, I can destroy Shard of Hope and play the trap card I drew!" Yusei said as he placed his hand on his deck. '_This one better count.'_ He thought and then he drew. "Nice! I destroy Shard of Hope in order to activate my Miracle Locus trap card! This forces you Kalin to draw a card from your deck and then my Stardust Dragon gains 1000 attack points and the ability to attack a second time this round!"

"Awesome! And since Kalin is forced to draw a card, his zero hand combo is useless!" Kurogasa cheered.

"Not to mention that he can't activate any of his monster's effect from his graveyard!" Rally added.

"Stardust Dragon, attack One Hundred Eye Dragon with Cosmic Flare!" Yusei commanded. The white armored dragon fired its stardust beam at the eye dragon and was instantly destroyed into pixels. Kalin groaned in pain as he took damage.

**Yusei:** 1800/**SPC: **7

**Kalin: **2400/**SPC: **6

"Yeah! With One Hundred Eye Dragon out of the way, Kalin's got to think of a new plan." Crow cheered.

"Thanks for the help Yusei, because now that you my destroyed my One Hundred Eye Dragon, I can select one card from my deck and add it to my hand." Kalin said as he took did what the effect said.

"It won't matter, because I now activate my trap Synchro Destructor! When my dragon destroys your monster in battle, you take damage equal to the destroyed monsters attack points. And then, if the monster I destroyed was a synchro monster, you get hit again with the same amount of damage." Yusei explained as two energies formed two copies of the destroyed dragon and then it went towards Kalin.

"Yeah! So Kalin's getting a dose of damage from his own monster's attack points! That's like what? 3000? If this attack is successful…" Crow began.

"Then Yusei wins this!" Tank finished.

"Yusei's the best! Nothing can stop him!" Rally cheered.

"Oh no, I'm done for!" Kalin said mockingly. "NOT! I activate my Damage Translation trap card! This card halves the damage I take from a card effect!" Kalin said as a transparent shield formed over him. The first one hit Kalin really hard.

**Yusei:** 1800/**SPC: **7

**Kalin: **1650/**SPC: **6

Then a second one hit making him groan in pain.

**Yusei:** 1800/**SPC: **7

**Kalin: **900/**SPC: **6

"Impressive string of attacks Yusei." Kalin chuckled. "But look who's still standing!" He laughed.

"Man, so close." Kurogasa cringed.

"Doesn't matter. Next turn, Kalin's done and he has no monster to protect him and Yusei has Stardust Dragon." Blitz said.

"Yeah. And I bet a salami sandwich that the facedown Yusei has is Scrap-Iron Scarecrow and if Kalin summons a monster stronger than Stardust, he can just negate the attack. He's got this in the bag." Nervin said.

"Maybe, only one problem…" Kurogasa said. Everyone turned to him. "It's that card he got when One Hundred Eye Dragon was destroyed. I got a bad feeling about it. That card Kalin got must be something very powerful." '_And if it's what I think it is, Yusei is in big trouble.'_ He thought. Oddly enough, Jack was thinking the same thing.

"That card Kalin got earlier must be powerful. And Yusei's biggest mistake would be thinking that he got this wrapped up." Jack said.

'_Now if I can hold next turn, my speed counters would be eight and I can activate my Final Attack speed spell, which doubles my Stardust Dragon's attack power._' Yusei thought. "I end my-"

"Hold on Yusei, I'm not done. My Damage Translation also has another effect. Since I took damage from card effects twice, I can special summon two Ghost Tokens on my field." Kalin said as the said tokens appeared on the field.

"Alright fine, I end my turn." Yusei said.

"Ore no ta-n!" Kalin said.

**Yusei's SPC: **8

**Kalin's SPC: **7

Kalin started to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Yusei asked.

"The irony is delicious. You did all that work just to force me to add a card to my hand. Did you ever stop to think that the card I'd be forced to draw was my most powerful one?" Kalin asked back.

"What is it?"

"You'll find out soon enough! Come out everybody!" Kalin said and then a group of people started to pop out of nowhere outside of the geoglyphic seal.

"What the- where did those people come from?" Kurogasa asked.

"You're guess is as good as mine Kurogasa." Nervin replied.

"Maybe those are the people who were following that weird group of people and taking them underground." Crow said.

"I had a feeling that it was you Dark Signers taking those people. What are you gonna do to them? Kalin, answer me!" Yusei demanded.

"What do you think? I'm gonna channel their spirits into this card!" Kalin said holding up the card he got from One Hundred Eye Dragon's effect.

"You're gonna what?" Yusei asked.

"You'll see! I release the two Ghost Tokens and offer their souls!" Kalin said as he released the two tokens and then some sort of embryo-shaped like device appeared. It pulsated and then it started to take the souls of the people that were near the geoglyph and into the device.

"What's going on?" Kurogasa asked.

"What's happening?"Yusei asked. Kalin laughed like a mad man as he raised his card in the air.

"_Hitobito no tamashii wo ikenie ni, Kourin seyo! Jibakushin Kokapaku Apu!"_

The device got larger, pulsated for a few more seconds and then a tower purple light was created as a dark cloud swirled above it. The tower of purple light faded and the swirling clouds dispersed, but then the ground started shaking and tremble and then, a huge arm rose from the ground and soon, a giant with blue markings appeared (10) (ATK: 3000/DEF: 2500).

"Incredible!" Jack said shocked with Carly screaming for dear life.

"OHH SHIT! It's here! An Earthbound Immortal!" Kurogasa yelled.

"Now that is big." Crow commented.

"This must be one of those Earthbound Immortals Goodwin was talking about." Yusei said.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA! Get ready Yusei, as I sent you to the Netherworld! Earthbound Immortal Ccapac Apu! Send this Signer to the darkness!" Kalin ordered. The giant took his large arm and moved in to grab Yusei.

"Stardust Dragon, attack!" Yusei commanded. Stardust went for the attack but it went through the giant's arm. "Oh no, it didn't work! At least I still have my Scarecrow!" He said activating his trap.

"Oh please! You actually think that such a mere can stop an Immortal?" Kalin asked as he sped ahead of him.

"There's nothing I can do! I can't stop this attack!" Yusei yelled as his runner started to wobble dangerously.

"Yusei!" Jack cried.

"Watch out!" Kurogasa and group cried. The hand started to get closer and closer each second. Yusei closed his eyes bracing for the worst. But then, his runner gave in. A duel runner part broke causing the bike to move back and sent Yusei and his runner rolling on the ground and by pure luck, avoiding the attack.

"**DUEL CANCELLED."**

"YUSEI!" Everyone cried. Yusei and continued to roll on the ground and then they both stopped. The purple wall of flames died down and the Immortal disappeared too and Kalin stopped next to Yusei.

At Blister's apartment…

Luna's mark stopped glowing.

"Your mark stopped glowing." Leo said. "What does that mean? Did something bad happen?"

"I don't know." Luna said worriedly.

At Arcadia HQ…

Akiza's mark stopped glowing as well.

"It stopped. What happened out there?" Akiza asked.

At Security HQ…

Goodwin was watching the entire thing going on from his office.

'_It seems that the Dark Signers are stronger than I thought.'_ Goodwin thought.

Back at the Satellite…

"And at the moment when all hope is lost, Yusei's runner brakes down. Officially ending the duel before the duel officially ended him!" Kalin laughed. "Look at you, you're so pathetic! You may have gotten lucky in this encounter, but I'm afraid you can't fight your fate. You can't stop the Satellite from being obliterated! And you can't save yourself. What did that tournament MC started calling you? 'Satellite's Shooting Star'? More like, 'Satellite's FALLING Star'! See ya around Yusei!" Kalin said before leaving on his runner leaving Yusei in pain.

At the helicopter…

"Take me down there! I'm going after Kalin!" Jack ordered the pilot.

"No. You can't. We have to go back to the City." Mina said.

"Are you saying that I should let Kalin escape?"

"Look I know you're upset, but without your runner, you can't do anything!" Mina said. Jack was stumped there and stayed silent as the copter went back to the City.

"Yusei!" Rally cried as he Blitz, Nervin, and Tank ran towards him.

"We're coming buddy!" Tank said. The group soon gathered around him.

"Yusei, you still with us?" Blitz asked as he turned Yusei over with his back on the ground only to reveal a few shrapnel on his stomach.

"Ugh… my gut…" Yusei muttered.

"Oh man! He's got shrapnel in him!" Nervin said.

"Is it bad?" Tank asked.

"Yusei, can you hear me?" Rally asked.

"Guys don't touch him!" Crow said as he and Kurogasa sped down the rock hill on their runners and stopped next to Yusei.

"Oh damn, he's got shrapnel in his gut." Kurogasa said grimly.

"Kurogasa and I will take him to Martha's place." Crow suggested.

"Good idea." Nervin said.

"I'll carry Yusei on my runner, you lead the way Crow. Tank, Blitz, get him on my runner." Kurogasa said. Tank and Blitz got Yusei's arm on their shoulders and put Yusei behind Kurogasa. "Hang in there Yusei."

"We'll see you there. Let's go Kurogasa." Crow said and revved up his runner and left with Kurogasa following.

A couple hours later…

The two D-Wheelers arrived at Martha's house. Crow got off his runner and knocked on the door constantly. "Hey Martha, it's me Crow! We got a problem! Open up now!" Crow said. The door opened to reveal a woman with dreadlocked hair and brown skin wearing a red dress.

"It's the middle of the night Crow, this better be good." Martha said.

"No it's bad. Real bad. Look." Crow said pointing at Yusei on Kurogasa's duel runner.

"Is that Yusei?" Martha gasped as she ran over to him and Kurogasa. "What happened?" She asked as she held the candle to see and saw the shrapnel in his gut.

"He's got shrapnel in his gut. He's hanging in there though." Kurogasa said.

"I need hands out here! Help me get Yusei inside the house!" Martha said then looked towards Yusei. "Don't worry; you're going to be fine. We'll do everything we can to help you." Martha said then turned to Kurogasa. "Thank you bringing him here, um…"

"Kurogasa. Kurogasa Kururugi." He greeted.

"Thank you Kurogasa."

"Sure. Let's get Yusei inside." The Haos duelist said. Kurogasa and Crow got Yusei off the Omega runner and carried him into the house.

A couple hours later…

Kurogasa and Crow were waiting outside in the hallway until the main door opened seeing Rally and the others in blankets and tagging along was Blister and also Crow's kids.

"Hey guys, you made it." Kurogasa said.

"CROW!" The kids cried running up to him. "You okay?" One asked.

"Don't worry, Uncle Crow is all right." Crow assured them and turned to Blister. "Thanks for bringing them over."

"Sure. I ran into Rally and the others pushing Yusei's runner here and they had to throw their cards and literally the shirt off their backs to get past some thugs wanting the runner. And while we're on the way here, I picked up your kids. I don't want them to be fending for themselves now. Especially here in Satellite."

"Thanks." Crow thanked.

"How's Yusei?" Rally asked.

"He's still in surgery. Hopefully, the doctor will be able to fix him up." Kurogasa said. As the night went by, everyone still kept on waiting, hoping that Yusei would be okay.

There you have it! Now review!

(1)- When the curtain of darkness comes down, the eyes of the underworld will open. Swoop down, darkness! Dark Synchro! Show yourself, One-Hundred Eye Dragon!

(2)- I sacrifice all these souls to you... Advent! Earthbound Immortal Ccapac Apu!


	30. Chapter 28: The Fall of Arcadia, Part 1

WOW guys, you must really like my stories, because you reviewers gave me over 100! Thanks guys! Anyways, get ready for a long chapter, because I'm combing episodes 36-39 of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's together. All in this one chapter. Or maybe two. Actually, you know what I'll divide this into 2 parts because for one thing, it's a lot. I'll put episode 36 and 37 on this one and then 38 and 39 on the other one. Plus, there will be two duels each for this part and the next one. I've started to notice that I'm writing more pages than usual, but I guess that's how it is. The more, the better. So, get to reading!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything except for my OC, blah, blah, blah…

Chapter 28: The Fall of Arcadia, Part 1

Several hours have passed and Kurogasa, along with Rally, Blitz, Nervin, Tank, Blister, and Crow's kids were still anxiously waiting for the doctor to finish the surgery on Yusei. Just then the door opened and Martha and the doctor came out. Everyone gathered around them.

"Oh my, we have a lot of kids here. Are these _your_ kids Crow?" Martha asked who rather surprised seeing Crow's kids with everyone else.

"Yeah. But more importantly, how's Yusei? Will he be okay?" Crow asked.

"Well, we managed to get all the shrapnel out of him. He'll make a full recovery. He'll need a few more days of rest in bed, so in meantime, just keep him out of underground dueling for a few days." The doctor said. The kids cheered at that while everyone else gave a sigh of relief.

"That's a relief…" Rally sighed. "Ah… ahhh…"

"ACHOO!" Rally, Blitz, Nervin, and Tank sneezed.

"What's wrong?" Crow asked.

"Walking all night pushing Yusei's runner all the way here without any clothes… I think we all caught a cold…" Rally said as Blitz, Nervin, and Tank were shivering.

"That's perfect." Martha sighed. "I'll make some soup. We still have a few spare rooms for your kids Crow."

"Thanks." Crow said.

The next morning at the Tops…

Tanner and Yanagi were at Leo and Luna's house.

"Will ya look at that? This place is amazing." Yanagi said impressed.

"Are you sure it's alright we can stay here for a while?" Tanner asked

"Of course you can." Luna said.

"Mom and Dad are always on business trips, so Luna and I basically have the house to ourselves." Leo said.

Tanner sat on the couch and opened up his laptop, when he did, he saw a blinking icon showing that someone is trying to contact him. Tanner knew what that meant. "Hey guys, gather around its Kurogasa!" Tanner called. Yanagi and the Twins gathered around him. Then the video screen appeared with Kurogasa on.

"Hey Tanner, everyone." Kurogasa greeted.

"Kurogasa, I see you and Yusei made it back to Satellite." Tanner said.

"Yeah, but we ran into a problem. Yusei fought a Dark Signer."

"Is he okay?" Yanagi asked.

"Yes and no. No, because while he was fighting the dark signer, Yusei's runner broke down and took a nasty fall. A few shrapnel got into his gut." Kurogasa said grimly. Everyone gasped.

"OH NO!" Twins cried.

"But, the good news is, the doctor managed to take out those shrapnel. So he should be fine." Everyone gave a sigh of relief.

"So what now?" Tanner asked.

"It looks like I'm not going to be able to make it back." the Haos duelist said regretfully. "So I'm gonna have to rely on you guys to help."

"You mean..."

"You should head on over to the Arcadia Movement. I know it's a long shot, but if you see Akiza, tell her my name and she may help you out."

"Are you sure? Like you said, it's a pretty tall order."

"Just watch out for Sayer... and whatever you do, under any circumstance, don't mention that I sent you. If he finds that out, we'll probably be in big trouble. Ever since I beat Akiza at the tournament, he's been hating my guts. If he tries something, get yourselves out of there right away. I'm counting on you guys."

"Got it." Tanner said as Kurogasa logged off.

"This is bad..." Luna said worriedly. "If Yusei's gone... then how can we beat the Dark Signers...?" 

"Don't worry, Luna!" Leo said. "I'll beat them all with my awesome dueling! In fact, I bet I'm another Signer! Yeah, it all makes sense! You're a Signer... my Power Tool Dragon must be one of those Signer Dragons!" He started to lift his shirt and check his skin. "Maybe my Mark of the Dragon's here somewhere too!"

Luna sighed. "He's not the Fifth Signer dragon; I saw the battle between the dragons and the monsters in my dreams... and Power Tool Dragon wasn't there... although, there was one that looked similar to it…"

"Since we fight evil, the Signers are like a team, right?" Leo exclaimed.

"I guess..."

"Well then, we need to come together as a team! We need to get Akiza here on our side!"

"But she's a part of the Arcadia Movement." Yanagi stated. "Not to mention there are others with powers just like hers!"

"Well, how are we supposed to win this if we don't have our team?" Leo protested. "Besides, I'll protect us with my awesome dueling, and my Power Tool Dragon! Not only that, Kurogasa said we should go and get her!"

"Still, if what he said was true, we could also be in danger walking in because of that Sayer guy..." Tanner stated.

"Maybe there's no other way." Luna murmured. "I mean, one way or another, Akiza has to join us, or we can't win this, right?"

"Yeah…" Yanagi admitted.

"So maybe we have to go and confront her about this." the Signer said softly. "Perhaps there's no other way."

"Yeah, Luna's right!" Leo shouted. "We have to see Akiza about this!"

"Fine, Yusei told us to watch over you two, so I guess we're in." Tanner said. "Let's do this..."

Meanwhile…

At the Arcadia Movement, Akiza stood inside a room made of grey steel as she summoned out her Black Rose Dragon against a robotic dummy. "Black Rose Flare!" she commanded, and the dragon unleashed its attack into the dummy opponent in front of her, shattering it into pieces that splintered and broke against the opposite wall. From a gantry above, Sayer looked down upon the Duel as Black Rose Dragon vanished, pondering something. He took in the fact that Black Rose Dragon destroyed the dummy, but never completely to ashes as before...

"Your powers... they're declining..." he mused. "Your powers gain their strength from the hate and anger within your heart... why are those emotions weakening? Has your mind changed...?" He then developed a shadow of an angry snarl. "Or is it that Kurogasa...?" He stepped off of the gantry and walked into a staircase, descending and meeting Akiza as she emerged from an elevator. "Is something wrong?" he asked.

"No, not really." she replied softly.

"You know you can always share your troubles with me." Sayer told her.

"There's nothing wrong." Akiza said more firmly.

"I've known you too long for you to lie to me." he said coldly. "I saved you, remember? You were frightened and everyone was frightened of you... you had no friends, even your parents abandoned you out of fear."Akiza bowed her head, remembering all those dark, painful memories. "We Psychic Duelists are born with these abilities." he continued. "We never asked for them, but because of them, we're discriminated against by society... even our families shun us... and because of that discrimination, you've always felt alone. But thanks to me, you have a home, and friends. The least you can do in return is telling me what's going on."

"Nothing's wrong." she repeated.

Sayer sighed. "Kurogasa can't save you." he said as she started to walk away, stopping her dead. The Movement leader then noticed a gold shine from near Akiza's neck. He reached and pulled out the half pendant from her. "Where did you get this?" He asked, still trying to sound benevolent. When she turned around with Sayer automatically letting go of the half pendant around her neck, he figured out right away. "Oh, you can delude yourself that he's shown you that not everyone's afraid of your powers, where society doesn't shun you, and that he cares about you. But it's a lie. _He's_ a lie. I saved you; I brought you here, and never forget that fact." She continued to walk away, eyes deep with thought. Sayer started to move after her, but his cell phone rang. "What is it?" he snapped, answering it.

"There's a group here asking to see Akiza." the caller said. "Those twins you were interested in, Leo and Luna, they're a part of that group, along with the former Pro Bolt Tanner, and some old guy…"

"Is that right? Things just got interesting." he murmured. "Send them to the conference room..."

Akiza was standing outside of her room on the balcony thinking about what Sayer just said. But she was also thinking about what Kurogasa was saying too. As she took out her half Haos pendant and looked at it, everything that Kurogasa told her ran through her mind.

"_Having that mark doesn't make you a Witch Akiza. Sure, when I first met you, I felt those hits, but now that I see you under the mask, you're no different from any other person. You don't have to be enemies with me! I _could_ be your friend. You just have to open up to others. I'm more than willing to help you with that."_

"_Akiza… I just want you to know that you're not alone. I know the world is cruel to you because you're different. No one deserves that… you just want to be loved and feel belonged. And that can start by being friends with me."_

"_I don't know what it feels to have some sort of power and be hated for it, but I understand what it feels like to not have a friend. It's very bad, and I don't want you going through that. I know it'll take some time to trust me, but I'll try to be there for you."_

"_Don't worry; we'll see each other again."_

"_I won't forget about you. I promise…"_

"Why would Sayer say something like that? And why would Kurogasa be a lie? He's the first person to ever see me as a regular person." Akiza said to herself.

Meanwhile…

"_HAHAHAHAHAHA! Get ready Yusei, as I sent you to the Netherworld! Earthbound Immortal Ccapac Apu! Send this Signer to the darkness!" Kalin ordered. The giant took his large arm and moved in to grab Yusei. The hand started to get closer and closer each second. Yusei closed his eyes bracing for the worst._

"AHHH!" Yusei screamed with a cry of shock and horror as he woke up, sitting straight up in bed and wincing as the movement sent lances of pain through his bandaged abdomen. "Where am I?" Yusei asked himself. Just then, the curtain opened.

"Well, look who finally decided to wake up."

"Martha… what happened?" Yusei groaned.

"You took a nasty fall on your runner then Crow and Kurogasa brought you here." Martha answered.

"Nasty fall? Oh right, there was a duel between me and Kalin." Yusei remembered.

"When you were young, I told you that dueling was dangerous, _now_ you're a wreck. Check out your runner." Martha said pointing out the window. Yusei looked to see Martha's and Crow's kids looking at the runner while Kurogasa was trying to fix it. "Surprised? Your friend Kurogasa has been trying to fix your runner all morning. Rally and the others pushed it all the way here last night."

"Across the Satellite?" Yusei asked in disbelief.

"They got sick, lost their decks, and quite literally the shirts off their backs. But they all knew what that meant to you. Hope is all anyone has left in the Satellite. Security has taken our decks and crime's taken anything else that even has a little value, but people have always looked up to you Yusei." Martha said as she went to a small table to peel an apple or two for him. "They thought that you might get out of here and start a real life, which is why it breaks my hearts to know you're back here dueling. I hope at least you won your little game."

"It's not what you think. There are people out there that want to destroy our homes. All of us here are in great danger. It's complicated, but there are these Dark Signers and-"

"Calm down. I believe you." Martha interrupted him. "But if we are in danger, why try to save the world all by yourself?"

"It's my job."

"Oh Yusei, you just don't learn. Trying to do things on your own won't do you any good. Look at you now; you're in a hospital bed. You got friends that will follow you anywhere. Just look what they did for your duel runner." Yusei just sat there in silence. "Then there's Jack. You two were like brothers once and you need each other. Whatever happened between you two, forgive and forget. Life's hard enough, but it's harder without a best friend. And if these Dark Signers are really to turn our home into a parking lot, then you'll need all the friends and help you can get. I'm done bandaging your black and blues." Martha finished up slicing the apples and turned to face Yusei and going to him. "Your life's too important to ride solo." Martha then gave the plate of sliced apples to Yusei. "Now, eat this."

"Thank you. For all your help." Yusei thanked.

"There's just one more thing. If you run out of here, before I say you're ready to go, I'll kick your ass." Martha scolded. Yusei couldn't help but smirk.

At Arcadia HQ…

Leo, Luna, Tanner, and Yanagi were sitting at a table with Sayer as the head.

"So I hear you all want to see Akiza. I have to warn you, she's awfully busy. What so important that you have to see her?" Sayer asked.

"Well, you see Akiza has a dragon sign and we need her. That means she's a superhero. And since Luna and I are superheroes too, we're gonna help Yusei defeat the Dark Signers and save the whole city." Leo explained.

"I see. Isn't there one more person that is like Akiza?" Sayer asked.

"Huh? Oh right, there's Jack Atlas and oh! Kurmmm-" Luna covered Leo's mouth just in time to stop him from saying Kurogasa's name.

"It's just Jack. Just him." Luna said sheepishly. Tanner and Yanagi sighed with relief silently.

"Your young friend certainly has an imagination." Sayer said.

"We know." Tanner said.

"But… It makes sense. I have been monitoring some unusual occurrences lately. We would love to help you." Sayer said. Everyone was actually surprised that Sayer actually agreed to this.

"Really?" Leo asked excitedly.

"Of course. My Arcadia Movement is built for good and if any of my psychic duelists, especially Akiza would be of help, what sort of person would I be if I turned my back on you? I promise I will do everything in my power to stop this threat."

"ALL RIGHT!" Leo cheered.

"Thank you!" Luna thanked.

"Now, if you'll excuse me…" Sayer said getting up from his seat. "I'll go and get Akiza." He then went out the door and left the room.

"Leo, you almost blew our cover." Luna hissed.

"Sorry." Leo apologized.

"Well, that went rather well." Yanagi said.

"Yeah. A little _too _well." Tanner said.

"Think he bought it though?" the old man asked.

"Don't know. We'll just have to wait and see. Hold on…" Tanner said as he sniffed the air. "Something smells funny." He said.

"*yawn* I feel tired." Leo said putting his head on the table.

"Me too…" Luna said as she fell asleep.

"Why do I feel…" Yanagi said and fell asleep too.

"Damn… sleeping gas…" Tanner said as he soon followed. The doors opened again to see Sayer and a group of his lackeys wearing gas masks.

'_Luna, ever since I saw your duel at the tournament, I knew I have to have your special powers under my control, but I need to know if your brother possesses the same ability. Fortunately for him, I have ways to find out.'_ Sayer thought.

Luna opened her eyes up and the first thing she saw was the plant duelist herself. "Akiza?" She asked as she got up from a couch. She also finds that she was in a gantry; the same place where Sayer watched Akiza's duel and also noticing her powers declining.

"Quiet, the duel's starting." Akiza said. Luna got off the couch and looked out the window. She then noticed Sayer below, but there was something else she noticed. It was Sayer's opponent, his ankle was chained to the ground and he has some kind of head gear on his head. Her eyes widened when she saw who Sayer's opponent was.

"Leo!" Luna cried. "What's going on? Why is he chained?"

"It's a test." Akiza answered.

At the dueling field…

"Where's Luna? Where am I? What's going on?" Leo asked as he tried to free himself from the chain.

"The chain's there for your protection. We don't want you hurting yourself now do we? As for hat, it's for detecting latent psychic powers. Assuming of course, that you have any." Sayer explained.

"Latent what? I thought you said you were going to get Akiza and help us beat the Dark Signers!"

"That's why it is called a 'lie' and I'm sure you'll hear many more."

"Let me go!" Leo demanded. The Morphtronic duelist then saw Luna up above at the gantry with her watching. "Luna, get out of here!"

"Oh, she won't hear you." Sayer said.

"What are you going to do to me?" Leo asked.

"It's a test. It's to see if you have the powers of a psychic duelist. A psychic can do incredible things with their minds whether it's something small or something very powerful. My psychics have the ability to make their decks come alive. Imagine, an unstoppable army made up of my duelists."

"The tournament…" Leo muttered.

"Akiza was just a preview. I have many more psychic duelists at my command. Who cares about the Dark Signers? Let them destroy the Satellite. It only helps me in my quest to make society pay for the indiscriminating ways in which they have treated psychics throughout time."

"So Akiza is supposed to help you get even? I thought she was supposed to be a hero!"

"A hero? Heh… She doesn't even know what I'm really doing here." Sayer scoffed. This shocked Leo to hear him say that. "Now be sure to duel very hard. If you don't, then you'll be locked away with your friends."

"You creep! You gonna wish you never lied to us! Now that I know what you guys really are up to, I'll make sure I win and get Luna and everyone else out of here. And once I tell Kurogasa about this, I'll make sure he _personally_ kicks your sorry ass!" Leo yelled then activating his duel disk.

"Is that so? Hmph. Now it all makes sense. Kurogasa sent you four to get Akiza. I should've known that he would try to do something like that. Looks like I can't let that happen, now can I?" Sayer said then activated his duel disk. Both duelists drew their starting hand.

"DUEL!"

**Leo: **4000

**Sayer: **4000

"I'll start things off." Sayer said and drew his sixth card. "I summon out Krebons in attack mode!" Sayer declared. A jester-like creature appeared onto the field, the body rather slim, and wearing a blue with yellow outlines outfit with a blue and yellow jester hat, with a bell attached to the bottom appeared (2) (ATK: 1200/DEF: 400). "Then I'll end my turn with one face down. You're up Leo." Sayer said as a reverse card appeared.

"Here goes! Ore no ta-n!" Leo declared and drew his sixth card. "I summon my Morphtronic Radion in attack mode!" A radio appeared in front of Leo then transformed into a robot (4) (ATK: 1000/DEF: 900). "And when he's in attack mode, he gains an extra 800 attack points!"

Morphtronic Radion- (ATK: 1800/DEF: 1000)

"Now attack his Krebons!" Leo commanded. Radion took out some kind of rope with an earphone attached to it and threw it towards the jester-like creature.

"I activate my Krebons special ability! By paying 800 life points, I can save my monster from being destroyed." Sayer countered as a shield formed around the jester psychic creature.

**Leo: **4000

**Sayer: **3200

"Grr… I end my turn." Leo growled.

"Then it's my move." Sayer said and drew a card. "I summon my Psychic Snail in attack mode!" A snail-like creature with yellow orbs all over its body appeared. (4) (ATK: 1900/DEF: 1200).

"Oh crap! He almost has 2000 attack points!" Leo exclaimed.

"Now Psychic Snail attack his Radion with Snail Thunder!" Sayer ordered. The snail creature sent electricity from its antennae to the radio robot and was destroyed in pixels.

**Leo: **3900

**Sayer: **3200

"AH!" Leo cried. "What was that? Something shocked me." Leo noticed.

"That's the result of my psychic dueling Leo, and if have any hope to beat me, you better use your own psychic powers. Krebons, attack his life points directly!" Sayer ordered. Krebons formed some transparent cubes and shot it towards Leo. The boy cried in pain as it fell to the ground.

**Leo: **2700

**Sayer: **3200

"Leo!" Luna cried. "Akiza, you have to stop this! That's my brother down there!" She pleaded.

"I can't. Once the test starts, it doesn't end until one duelist loses." Akiza said.

"Leo…" Luna mumbled as she looked on at her brother.

"C'mon Leo, get up! Don't you want to see your sister again?" Sayer asked.

"Just leave us alone!" Leo said as he was forming tears in his eyes.

"I'm doing this as a favor. You'll thank me in the end! If you want to see Luna again, fight with everything you got! Show me your powers!" Sayer said. Leo got back up and wiped his tears.

"You're gonna wish you never messed with my sister! Nobody gets away with that!" Leo said.

"That's it Leo, come at me with everything you got! Use your hidden emotions deep within you. So are you gonna cry or duel?"

"I'm gonna win! Ore no ta-n!" Leo said and drew his next card. He smiled at what he got. "Awesome! I summon the tuner monster, Morphtronic Remoten in attack mode!" A white remote appeared and transformed into its robot form (3) (ATK: 300/DEF: 1200). "And next I activate the spell Junk Box, which lets me summon a level 4 or low Morphtronic monster from my graveyard to the field, so now I bring back my Morphtronic Radion!" A radio robot came out of the spell card and was back on the field. "Now I'll tune my level 3 Remoten with my level 4 Radion!" Leo announced as the words 'TUNING' appeared on the black screen of Remoten and turned into 3 green rings while Radion transformed into four stars. The stars lined up in the tunnel of rings.

"_Sekai no heiwa o mamoru tame, yuuki to chikara o dokkingu! Shinkuro Shoukan! Ai to seigi no shisha, Pawa Tsuru Doragon!" _

A beam of light shot out of the rings and his machine dragon showed up on the field (7) (ATK: 2300/DEF: 2500).

"Nice." Sayer complimented.

"But there's more to come! I activate my dragon's special ability! I pick three equip spell cards from my deck and you have to pick one at random. The one you pick gets added to my hand and the other two go gets shuffled back into my deck." Leo explained as he picked 3 equip spell cards from his deck and showed it to him on the reverse side and not the picture side. "Now choose!"

"The one in the middle." Sayer said. Leo picked up the card that the Movement leader chose.

"Nice, you picked my Double Tool C &D!" Leo said adding that equip spell to his hand and the other two were shuffled back into his deck. "And now I'll _play_ Double Tool C & D, which gives my Power Tool Dragon a 1000 attack point boost when it attacks!" Leo said as the dragon's weapons changed to a saw and a drill.

Power Tool Dragon- (ATK: 3300/DEF: 2500)

"Now attack Krebons!" Leo yelled as the machine dragon went for it with its drill.

"You forget about Krebons's ability? Because I can still pay 800 life points to save it from being destroyed." Sayer reminded him.

"Too bad; because when Power Tool Dragon attacks with Double Tool C & D equipped to it, all monster effects are negated until the end of the battle phase!" Leo smirked.

"What?" Sayer growled as the dragon drilled into Krebons destroying into pixels.

**Leo: **2700

**Sayer: **1100

"And I'll end my turn with that." Leo finished. Power Tool Dragon's attack points reverted back to normal.

"Not bad." Sayer said.

"I know. On my next turn, I'm gonna beat you and I'm gonna save my sister and everyone else! Then I'll tell Kurogasa what you're up to, and then he'll make sure he kicks your sorry ass!" Leo taunted.

"Like that's going to happen." Sayer said and drew a card from his deck. "I play the spell Psi-Station! Thanks to this card, whenever I summon a Psychic type monster, I can pay 500 life points to have that monster gain one level and a power boost of 300 attack points." Sayer said as a platform with four poles, one on each corner appeared. "And now, I'll summon the tuner monster, Psychic Commander!" An alien-like creature in a military uniform in a tank-like flying saucer appeared. (3) (ATK: 1400/DEF: 800). "Now he gets a power boost of 300 attack points and one level since I normal summoned him by paying 500 of my life points." Electricity came from the poles and went straight to Psychic Commander.

Psychic Commander- (3-4) (ATK: 1700/DEF: 800).

**Leo: **2700

**Sayer: **600

"It's still not enough to beat my Power Tool Dragon!" Leo reminded him.

"If I was finished with my turn, yes. But I'm not. I tune my level 4 Psychic Commander with my level 4 Psychic Snail!" Sayer announced as the flyer saucer tank with its commander turned into four green rings while Psychic Snail turned four stars. The stars lined up in the tunnel of rings.

"_Sakamake, waga fukushuu no kokuen! Shinkuro Shoukan! Koi, Mentaru Sufia Deemon!"_(1)

A beam of light shot out of the rings and a creature similar to Summon Skull, but its body of green and claws of yellow appeared (8) (ATK: 2700/DEF: 2300).

"Now it's time I end this duel by attacking _you_!" Sayer said pointing at Leo.

"You still have to go through my Power Tool Dragon! And Power Tool Dragon's ability lets me destroy the equip spell he's equip with in order to have him stay alive and on the field!" Leo countered.

"That's only if I attacked your dragon, yes. But by activating my Battle Teleportation trap card…" Sayer began revealing the face down he set at the start of the duel. "I can bypass your dragon and attack you directly!"

"OH NO!" Leo cried.

"That's right. Thought Ruler Archfiend, end this duel!" Sayer ordered. The demon disappeared and appeared in front of Leo. It then lets out some kind of dark energy from its mouth. Leo braved it out, screamed, and fell to the ground as his life points depleted.

**Leo: **0

**Sayer: **600

"Sorry… Luna…" Leo muttered before he passed out.

"Hmm… I guess the boy isn't special after all. At least I still have his sister." Sayer chuckled as the holograms disappeared and looked up at the gantry seeing Luna banging on the glass.

"LEO! LEO! LEOOOO!"

At the Satellite, Yusei was inspecting his mangled up runner while Kurogasa was trying to fix the runner.

"How's it going?" Yusei asked.

"Well, your runner is missing some parts from that crash you took. I might as well scavenge for more parts in the Satellite." Kurogasa said.

"We'll help you with that." A voice said. The two Satellites turned around to see Nervin and Rally coming up to them.

"Nervin, Rally." Kurogasa said in acknowledgement.

"How are you feeling Yusei?" Rally asked.

"Much better. You guys okay too?" Yusei asked.

"It's just the sniffles is all. We're fine." Rally answered.

"You're gonna go scavenge for more parts Kurogasa?" Nervin asked.

"I might as well. I've been trying to fix this all morning, and it's giving me a run for my money." Kurogasa replied.

"Are you sure? You don't have to go through all that trouble. You've already done so much." Yusei said.

"Sure we're sure."

"What are best friends for?" Rally smiled.

"Whatever you need." Nervin said.

"Thanks you guys." Yusei thanked. _'But even though if my runner is fixed, I don't know if I have what to takes to beat those Dark Signers and win this war.'_ He thought thinking about the duel he had with Kalin.

Back at the Arcadia HQ…

"Why is it that we always end up in these situations?" Yanagi asked Tanner. As for those two, they've been locked in a cell after Sayer gassed them.

"I don't know, but if only I had noticed that Sayer was gonna gas us sooner, then maybe we should've gotten out of there quicker." Tanner said.

"What do you think they want with us?"

"It's probably Luna they're interested in."

"If they want Luna, then why lock _us _up?"

"Don't know. If their goal is to capture all the Signers, then we might as well be bait for Yusei and Kurogasa. Either way, I don't think that it will end well for us."

"You don't think that they-"

"Let's not go there gramps. Let's try to figure out how to get out here first."

In another part of the Arcadia HQ, Luna was inside a room watching Leo lying unconscious in a bed, but separated by another thick window. "Leo…" Luna mumbled. The Rear Claw Signer turned to see the door open and Akiza walk in.

"Your brother is going to be fine, Luna." Akiza said softly. Not entirely convinced, Luna turned to the Psychic duelist.

"What do you and this Arcadia Movement want with us?" the little girl asked.

"Sayer thought your brother had the powers of a Psychic Duelist, so he wanted to test him out." The plant duelist replied.

"But Leo doesn't have any powers!" Luna stated. "Sayer took that duel too far! Besides if anyone's has powers, it's me, so just let Leo go!"

"It's alright; you don't have to be afraid of us." Akiza assured her. "The Arcadia Movement's safe for people like us... shunned away from the world because of the powers were inadvertently born with."

"What are you talking about? No one shunned me away; I still have my brother..."

"But what about your parents? When did you last seem them...?" At that time Luna hesitated to answer. She knew her parents had to work most of the time overseas and therefore had to home school with Leo via internet.

"See? They know that you're different from the rest of the world because of your powers, and it scares them as they don't come around much." Akiza continued. "Sooner or later, the world will find out about what you can do and fear you. That's the reason; you don't leave your house much."

"That's not true..." Luna muttered.

"Without the Movement, you'll go through the same drama that I did." Akiza stated before she turned to leave.

"But Akiza, what about the others that tried to understand you, despite all of this... Kurogasa was trying to help you during the Fortune Cup, remember?" the young Signer asked. The plant duelist suddenly stopped as she thought about that last duel she had with Kurogasa, willingly taking all of her rage and frustration. Next, she remembered him visiting her during the Fortune Cup and giving her half of his pendant. She slowly clutched and sighed before leaving. Luna then looked back at her brother and she just closed her eyes.

'_Ancient Fairy Dragon, if you can hear me, please help me.'_ Luna thought. Her consciousness was suddenly taken to the cragged stone where Ancient Fairy Dragon was sealed. _"Please Ancient Fairy Dragon please help." _Just then, the cragged stone glowed and a faint image of the fairy dragon appeared. Luna was happy to see her.

"_Luna, I'm afraid I cannot help you right now. I'm still bound to this dimension by forces dark and sinister. But there might be a way. Right now my servant Regulus suffers deep within the shadows. If you can find and free him from his curse, then the two of you can combine your forces together to break the seal binding me in this rock. If you don't, I'll be trapped forever. But once you two free me from this rock, I promise that I will protect you until my last breath. So until then, find Regulus."_

Luna's consciousness then returned back to reality as she opens her eyes back."Who's Regulus? Is he a person? How do I find him? Hello?" Luna called, but no answer.

Later on that night, Carly was in the Arcadia Movement, she was disguised as a janitor so she could get some information on the Arcadia Movement. Lately, Carly's been trying to find out what went on in the Fortune Cup and she got some information about the marks and all, but that's just about it. She tried to talk to Jack about it, but he didn't want her involved in it. She couldn't try Yusei and Kurogasa because, well, who knows where they are. Same goes for Luna. So she decides to try Akiza, and that's where he started her search. She got information, but not much. But then, she noticed that a picture of someone she knew. That person was Misty Tredwell. They only met once at one of those fancy parties Goodwin hosted. Anyways, Carly was remembering about visiting Misty at her apartment to talk to her about how she's connected to the Arcadia Movement.

Flashback

"_So what's up Carly? What did you want to talk to me about?"_

"_Well, I'm a journalist... and I'm investigating that Crimson Dragon that showed up in the Fortune Cup, so I'm investigating that duelist, Akiza..."_

"_And so you're investigating the Arcadia Movement." Misty realized._

"_Yeah! I heard you had some connection with them..." Misty's eyes grew dark with sorrow._

"_My younger brother was killed by the Arcadia Movement." she replied softly. Carly gasped in shock and horror. "He vanished after he went to see a Duel in the Daimon Area... then a few days later he was found, hardly recognizable, and everyone knew it was the Black Roses' doing."_

"_Didn't they investigate Akiza Izinski?" Misty's eyes blazed with a deep rage._

"_All that happened was an interview with the Arcadia Movement, and then they closed the investigation." she replied darkly._

"_Not real..." Carly breathed. "Sector Security could've had Arcadia shut down for good..."_

"_Maybe the Arcadia Movement knows a weakness in Sector Security..."_

"_Sector Security's weakness... Does it even have one?" Carly wondered._

"_I don't know." Misty said. "But that's all I can think of. Even if Sector Security won't bring the Black Rose to justice... I... I'll make her pay." She then looked to Carly with a stern but concerned look. "Carly... don't get any closer to the Arcadia Movement..."_

End Flashback

'_I shouldn't even be here, but this is the only lead I got. I got to follow it to the end.'_ Carly thought. "Oh man, where am I? I feel like I've been in this hallway over and over." She said out loud. Just then, a door opened and out came Sayer and Akiza. Carly noticed and then turned around quickly. "Whoops, I forgot to sweep up that thing." Carly said quickly in hopes she would get away.

"Excuse me." Sayer said.

"Uh, yes sir?"

"Have I seen you before?"

"Uh well, the usual cleaner has a fever and I'm just covering." Carly said hoping he would buy it.

"I see. Carry on." Sayer said as he left with Akiza. Carly gave a sigh of relief.

'_Man that was close. The door they just got out of, that must be Sayer's office.' _Carly thought as she went in the door that Sayer and Akiza came out of.She then took her disguise and started to look around the room. She found a bookshelf and was going through the books. "There must be something about those Marks that Akiza has, I can't find any of it in these books." She said to herself as she went to take out another book. But as she took it out, something clicked. The bookshelf slid to the side much to Carly's surprise. "A secret room!" She exclaimed. She then started to look through the book there for a while. "Okay, this is weird. After hearing Misty's story, I gathered up a list of people missing for a few years, and almost everyone on my list is listed in these files. What is the Arcadia Movement really up to?" Carly asked herself, as she picked up another book and went through the pages. Her eyes caught interest on a certain person. "Director Goodwin?"

"Well, well, I thought I felt something suspicious about you." A voice said. Carly looked up to see the person she ran into. It was the Movement leader and he had his gold duel disk ready.

"Sayer." Carly said as she started to get out of the secret room and started backing away from him.

"I thought that you would be working for Goodwin, but it looks like you're going solo. Doesn't matter, because that you've seen everything, I can't let you leave." Sayer said and then noticed a silver disk and then threw it to Carly. "Since I'm a good sport, let me at least give you a fighting chance."

"You want to duel me?" Carly asked confused.

"You could try to run away or duel. It's your choice. So what's it gonna be? Or should I just lock you up forever now?" Sayer asked activating his duel disk.

'_I'm not afraid. I can do this.'_ Carly thought. She puts the duel disk on, inserted her deck and activated it. "Bring it on!" Carly said.

"Heh, you should've tried to run away." Sayer said.

"DUEL!"

**Carly:** 4000

**Sayer:** 4000

"The first move is mine." Sayer announced as he drew his sixth card. "I summon Telekinetic Shocker in attack mode!" A man in a red suit with a electricity symbol on its chest, red helmet, black pants and shoes appeared on the field (4) (ATK: 1700/DEF: 700). "And I'll end my turn since I can't attack on the first turn. You better make this count."

"Alright then, here goes!" Carly declared and drew a card_. 'Wha? The person drawing this card is doomed! I'm doomed? Well, it makes sense because he's a psychic duelist and… they say that they can do real damage, but… no, I can't think about my fortune now, I gotta do something.'_ "I summon my Fortune Fairy Swee in attack mode!" A blue fairy appeared on the field (4) (ATK: 0/DEF: 0). "Then I activate the spell, Unacceptable Result! With this card, if I have a Fortune Fairy on my field I can summon another one from my hand, so I special summon my Fortune Fairy Chee!" A brown fairy with glasses appeared (6) (ATK: 0/DEF: 0). "Next up is another spell card called Luck Loan! With this card, I can special summon another Fortune Fairy as long as the one I summon is lower than the ones on the field. So now I special summon Fortune Fairy Hu!" A green fairy appeared on the field along with the other two (3) (ATK: 0/DEF: 0).

"They all got zero attack points. I was hoping for a real challenge." Sayer said.

"I'm not as weak as you think Sayer!" Carly snapped. "Now I play from my hand, the spell Miracle Stone! For every Fortune Fairy on the field, each one of them gains 1000 attacks points, so that's 3000 points for each fairy!" A stone came out of the card, glowed, and then the fairies grew larger.

Fortune Fairy Swee- (ATK: 3000/DEF: 0)

Fortune Fairy Chee- (ATK: 3000/DEF: 0)

Fortune Fairy Hu- (ATK: 3000/DEF: 0)

"Lucky for you, I can't attack when I play this card, so I end my turn." Carly concluded.

"Well, you got some surprises, but I got some too. It's my move!" Sayer declared and drew a card. "I summon my Psychic Snail in attack mode!" The snail with the yellow orbs all over its body appeared (4) (ATK: 1900/DEF: 1200). "Then next I play Emergency Teleport spell card!" Sayer said as he played it. "This lets me summon a level 3 or lower Psychic-type monster from my hand or deck, so now I special summon my Psychic Commander!" The alien-like creature in a military uniform in a tank-like flying saucer appeared. (3) (ATK: 1400/DEF: 800). "You think you got a solid defense, but you don't, because now I play my Psychokinesis spell card! By paying 1000 life points, I can destroy any card on your side of the field. And I choose your Miracle Stone, because without it, your fairies are weak."

**Carly:** 4000

**Sayer:** 3000

A beam shot out of the card and destroyed the stone. The fairies went back to their original small size along with losing their power boost.

Fortune Fairy Swee- (ATK: 0/DEF: 0)

Fortune Fairy Chee- (ATK: 0/DEF: 0)

Fortune Fairy Hu- (ATK: 0/DEF: 0)

"That's not good!" Carly exclaimed.

"For you that is. Telekinetic Shocker, attack her Fairy Hu with Psychic Shockwave!" Sayer ordered! The man in the red suit charged up with electricity and sent the shockwave at the green fairy, destroying it into pixels and then the shockwave hit Carly sending her flying back as her glasses fell off with a piece of glass breaking from it. She was then pinned to the wall with the glass starting to become a web of cracks.

**Carly:** 2300

**Sayer:** 3000

"That hurt… what was that shock?" Carly asked.

"It's the powers of a psychic duel. And so is this! Psychic Snail, attack her Fairy Swee with Snail Thunder!" Sayer commanded. The snail charged up electricity from its antennae and shot it at the blue fairy destroying it and then it shocked Carly. The journalist cried in pain as it electricity shocked her and the web of cracks grew larger.

**Carly:** 400

**Sayer:** 3000

"You… won't get away with this Sayer. Sector Security will be looking for Carly Carmine…" Carly muttered.

"Of course they will. You will just be another missing person. That's one more cold case to add up. Sector Security can't touch us as long not as long as I have the truth about Goodwin."

"And what would that be?"

"We all know that everyone loves Goodwin. He is an honest leader, New Domino City's favorite son, but he has a secret. He actually comes from the Satellite, and that is just only the smallest of secrets."

"WHAT?" Carly asked in disbelief.

"But you won't be able to tell that as I'm about to end your life now. Psychic Commander, attack her Fairy Chee and end this!" Sayer ordered. Psychic Commander fired its beam from its flying saucer tank and destroyed the brown fairy and then it hit Carly. The glass finally gave in as it broke into many pieces as Carly began to fall from the window and as the last of her life points depleted.

**Carly:** 0

**Sayer:** 3000

All time seemed to slow down as Carly fell. Her life started to flash in her eyes seeing the many memories that she had. But there was one piece of memory that she thought of.

'_Jack…'_

With that, her body landed on the roof of another building making a small crater in the process. Sayer looked out the window and saw her lifeless body. "And that's that." Sayer said as he turned around and started to leave, but little did he know that Carly's body started to glow purple all around and then… the city started to tremble.

TO BE CONTINUED…

DUN. DUN. DUN-DUN-DUN-DUUUUUUUUUUUN! Sorry, I just couldn't resist doing that. Anyways, go ahead and review!

(1)- Surge, my black mist of vengeance! Synchro Summon! Come, Mental Sphere Demon!


	31. Chapter 29: The Fall of Arcadia, Part 2

Time for part 2 of the Fall of Arcadia. This chapter was giving me a run for my money, so I had help from the Duelist of Dawn. This chapter was made by him, so credit _him_ for that. I just provided the Japanese translations for ya. So, on with the chapter.

Disclaimer: Same thing

Chapter 29: The Fall of Arcadia, Part 2

As Carly lay there, she gasped as blinding pink light enveloped both her and her cards, the cards beginning to change… All across the city, the ground shook as an earthquake suddenly acted, shaking ornaments and sending ripples through any liquids...

In her room, Misty stared down at her cup of tea as ripples ran across it. "Carly... so the time has come..." she murmured.

In Rex's office, Lazar glanced around in panic. "What's causing these tremors?" he exclaimed...

At Jack's place, he and Mina stare at the sky, flooded with dark blue clouds, both of them caught between awe and anticipation of trouble.

"This can't be good…" Jack muttered.

Soon, around the Arcadia Movement Building, purple fires erupted around it and lit up the area, forming the geoglyph shape of the Hummingbird. Sayer stared down at the geoglyph in shock, as thunder crashed and lightning flashed in the heavens above, dark storm clouds rolling in. As the earthquake began to end, he snatched up the phone from his desk. "Everyone, evacuate the building at once," he spoke calmly, before noticing a figure standing in the shadows. Lowering the phone, he stared at them. "What're you doing? Evacuate the building at once!"

"I'll make you pay, Sayer," the person said in a darkly familiar voice.

"Who are you?" As he spoke, lightning flashed behind him, lighting the room and revealing the person as Carly! Staring at her in shock and horror, he dropped the phone to the floor. "You're... but that's impossible! You couldn't have fallen from that height and survived!"

"I've come back to send you to your grave!" Carly replied, as the mark of the Hummingbird ignited on her arm.

"What?"

"This mark's granting me the message of my God, to offer your mangy soul to it," she said darkly, looking to the mark on her arm before staring back at Sayer. "Do you accept this Shadow Duel?" A flare of orange light engulfed her, before fading to reveal her dressed in a jet-black cape, halter top and skirt, all adorned with orange geoglyph highlights, a mark on her left cheek and with some kind of jet-black Duel Disk with a draconic theme on her arm. Her eyes slid open, revealing black sclera and orange irises, the eyes of a Dark Signer.

Sayer stepped forward. "I don't know what tricks you used to survive, but to challenge me to a Duel is a sign that you're woefully unaware of your limits!"

"Enough talk!" Carly snapped. "This won't be the same as before! I'll send you and your dark ambitions screaming into the Underworld!"

"You're making no sense!" Sayer retorted. "But I accept your challenge! You'll feel the power of a Psychic Duelist once more!" At this, Carly smirked darkly. Her Duel Disk activated and the card panel sliding round from the back of it and expanding to reveal the full panel. Sayer's activated his in response. Their Decks shuffled in the slots, and they drew their opening hands.

"DUEL!"

**Carly:** 4000

**Sayer:** 4000

"Since I'm the victor of our last duel, I'll start," Sayer announced, drawing his sixth card. "I summon Psychic Snail!" In a flash, a giant futuristic humanoid-snail appeared with the snail body extending into a muscular blue human upper body. (4/1900/800) He then activated another spell card from his hand, "Next, I play Emergency Teleport! To refresh your memory, it summons a Level 3 or below Psychic monster from my hand! And I'll use it to summon Psychic Commander!" The alien-like creature in a military uniform in a tank-like flying saucer appeared. (3/1400/800) "Then, I'll tune Level 4 Psychic Snail with my Level 3 Psychic Commander!" Psychic Commander turned into three green rings and Psychic Snail turned into four stars. The star lined up in the tunnel of rings. "I synchro summon, Psychic Lifetrancer!"

From the light, a young, alien-like woman appeared with her pale skin illuminated by an unearthly green glow. She was clad in a tight blue bodysuit, her left arm, leg and the left side of her face cybernetic. An orb of crackling black energy hovered over her cybernetic left palm, a sphere of fiery radiance over her organic right. (7/2400/2000)

"I activate the effect of Psychic Lifetrancer, removing a Psychic-Type monster in my Graveyard," he pocketed Psychic Commander, "to regain 1200 Life Points." A shower of golden motes rained down upon him as he reveled in it.

**Carly:** 4000

**Sayer:** 5200

"And then, I'll end my turn with two facedown cards." He concluded as two reversed card were planted at his feet. "Already you're outmatched, and when I defeat you this time, you'll stay down!"

"I beg to differ." Carly smirked as she drew her sixth card. Immediately she opened her field spell slot and then inserted a card inside. "I play the field spell card, Future Visions!" Soon, an aura of clear, psychedelic energy surrounded the playing field. "In Future Visions, any monster Normal Summoned is removed from play until its controller's next Standby Phase!"

"I see this is just the same old Fortune-Telling Deck," Sayer commented sarcastically. "I'm not the type to believe in these ridiculous superstitions!"

"The future I foretell will be the last thing you'll believe!" Carly retorted, playing a monster. "I summon Fortune Lady Light!" A flare of light erupted before her, forming into a young blonde woman, wearing a revealing black leather costume and stockings under a golden yellow halter top and skirt. Bat-like wings extended out from her golden hair, and she wielded a long staff adorned with a crescent blade, crowned by a golden sun, and the Millennium Eye symbol glowed on her hair (1/?/?). "My Fortune Lady Light's points are 200 times her Level, which increases by one each Standby Phase, and currently her Level is one!" Fortune Lady Light glowed with energy (1/?-200/?-200). "But now Future Visions removes her from play!" Fortune Lady Light blew Sayer a warm kiss as she faded away into the aura of Future Visions.

"What good does it do to summon a monster and get rid of it yourself?" Sayer smirked, thinking he had this won. "Your field's wide open!"

"Things are perfect," Carly replied darkly. "Because Fortune Lady Light was removed from the field by a card effect, I can Special Summon another Fortune Lady from my Deck – namely Fortune Lady Fire!" A flash of fire exploded before her, creating another Fortune Lady with fiery red hair. She was dressed in similar attire to Light, but her halter and skirt were crimson red, as were her hair and eyes. Her staff was crowned by a crimson flower in place of Light's golden sun (2/?/?)

"My Fortune Lady Fire's attack points are set in the same way as Light's, but Fire is Level Two!" Carly explained darkly. Fortune Lady Fire glowed with power (2/?-400/?-400).

"How do you expect that runt to stand up to my 2400 point Psychic Lifetrancer?" Sayer retorted.

"When summoned by the effect of a Fortune Lady, Fire destroys one monster you control and deal out damage to you equal to that monster's points!" his opponent replied.

"What?"

"I destroy Psychic Lifetrancer!" Fortune Lady Fire blasted a super-dense sphere of fire from her staff, reducing the Psychic Synchro Monster to ashes and smashing Sayer against the edge of the window he had previously sent Carly flying out of. He hit with a sickening scream of agony, smoke rising from his clothes.

**Carly:** 4000

**Sayer:** 2800

"That attack... this is more powerful than Psychic Dueling..." Sayer groaned as he struggled to stand.

"What's wrong?" Carly mocked. "You look pale."

"That was nothing!" Sayer snarled, retaking his place. "I'm not done!"

"Then meet another one of my girls," the Dark Signer continued, activating another spell card. "Next, I use the spell card Double Summon and bring out Fortune Lady Wind!" Carly placed another monster card on her disk, letting out another Fortune Lady, with her clothes green in color and her staff carrying a green orb inside. (3/?/?) "And she gains 300 ATK/DEF times her level!" Wind glowed with power. (3/?-900/?-900) "And before she's removed by Future Visions, by Normal Summoning her I can destroy a spell or trap card for every Fortune Lady I control, meaning those two cards are history!"

Sayer gasped as the new Fortune Lady sliced the air with her staff, creating sharp air cutters that chopped the Psychic Duelist's cards in half, before she left the field.

"All of that, and I haven't attacked yet," Carly pointed out. "Fortune Lady Fire, direct attack!" Fortune Lady Fire blasted another sphere of flame from her hand, knocking Sayer back against the window

**Carly:** 4000

**Sayer:** 2400

"I'll end my turn with one card facedown." She concluded with a smirk. "Sayer... I forgot to mention... The future I foretold for you... is death!"

Deep in the skyscraper, Akiza walked down a corridor, before entering a wide stairwell with a large hole in the center running down the height of the building.

"Where's Sayer?" she wondered, worried for him. "He said the building needed evacuating, but he should have left by now..."

"You won't be seeing him... not in this life..."

The plant duelist turned her gaze to the adjacent balcony hallway to see a stunningly beautiful woman who was dressed in a pale green dress under a white jacket, with an emerald green sash tied around her waist. She narrowed her natural blue eyes at the Signer, in anger.

"Wait a second... you're that model..." Akiza muttered, looking over to her unexpected visitor. "Misty?"

"It's an honor to be recognized by someone like you, Ms. Izinski..." the identified model stated with a smirk. "Or should I say... 'The Black Rose'?"

"What do you mean by revenge?" Akiza retorted. "What are you talking about?"

"It's okay," Misty replied. "I never expected you to speak the truth... nothing he hears will make him come back now! But at the very least I want you to apologize, by going to where he is and doing so!"

"Who are you?" Akiza asked.

"I'm a Dark Signer." Misty declared.

"Dark Signer?"

"You and I are destined to fight," the supermodel declared. "By accepting that destiny, I gained the power to achieve vengeance! The 5000 year long seal has unraveled, and now all that remains is to fight until your group or mine are eliminated!"

"What are you saying?" Akiza cried. Misty smirked as she pulled back her sleeve to bare the purple mark of the Lizard, before a flare of purple fire enveloped her. It faded to reveal the Dark Signer true, dressed in her black and white dress, and black cloak, both highlighted in green geoglyph patterns, her irises venomous green. "A... Dark... Signer..." Akiza breathed as her Mark of the Dragon blazed into life...

More purple fire erupted around the Arcadia Building, tracing out the geoglyph pattern of the Lizard Nazca Line. Another earthquake rocked the city, as the purple flames completed the geoglyph. Jack was now in a nearby street, on his Duel Runner. The eradicating light sketching Misty's Nazca Line comes up the street behind him. Jack speeds forward and pulls aside into an alley for cover. He turns into a building and speeds up a stairway, before smashing through a door onto the roof. He stops to look at the chaos caused by the light.

"What in blazes is going on?" Jack asked himself. Just then, his Mark of the Crimson Dragon Wings glowed brightly. "Someone else with a Mark of the Dragon is dueling a Dark Signer." Jack inferred as he was looking around and saw the Arcadia Movement building at its center. "And that someone is at the Arcadia Movement." He concluded as he began ramping his Duel Runner from rooftop to rooftop in its direction.

At Martha's place in the Satellite, Kurogasa and Yusei dashed outside to see the two Nazca Lines glowing over the city with their birthmarks glowing bright red as well.

"Look at that! Those are Nazca Lines; the Hummingbird and the Lizard!" Kurogasa exclaimed.

"And it looks like the Dark Signers have already gotten to the city!" Yusei added. Kurogasa clenched his fist real tight as he was holding his mark of the Body. _'Leo, Luna, Tanner, Yanagi, Jack, Akiza… I hope you guys are alright.'_ The Haos Duelist thought.

Within the fires, a Sector Security paddy wagon was brought to a halt by the flames encircling them.

"What is this?" one of the officers inside roared.

"Damn... this had to happen during a prisoner escort," his colleague muttered, glaring at Greiger, who was sitting handcuffed in the back of the van...

After the earthquake, Tanner and Yanagi came to after they were thrown to the ground from shaking, covered in shattered light-bulb glass.

"What... happened?" Tanner groaned.

"I think we experienced an earthquake," Yanagi replied. "But it might have loosened that door." Tanner glared at the door in question, stood, stormed up to it and proceeded to punch it open.

"That was easy," he grunted. "Now let's find Leo and Luna, and get out of here!"

Akiza and Misty activated their Duel Disks, glaring at each other.

"I came here to crush the Arcadia Movement," Misty said. "And you have no choice but to fight me, Akiza."

"I don't know what you have against me, but I accept your challenge!" Akiza said fiercely as she pressed against a panel on the wall. It opened, and her Duel Disk slid from it, the Signer sliding it onto her arm, drawing her opening hand. "This is where I belong, Misty, and if you want to get rid of it, you have to fight me!" Misty drew her own opening hand with a smirk.

"DUEL!"

**Akiza:** 4000

**Misty:** 4000

"Watashi no ta-n!" Akiza shouted, drawing her sixth card, immediately playing a monster card. "I summon Twilight Rose Knight!" The black-armored knight appeared before her, raising her sword (3/1000/1000). "When Twilight Rose Knight is Normal Summoned, I can Special Summon a Level Four or below Plant-Type monster from my hand, like Lord Poison!" She continued, playing another monster card that unleashed the thorny, bark-skinned creature (4/1500/1000).

"Now I'll Tune my Level Three Twilight Rose Knight," Akiza said as the knight faded into three Synchro Gates, "to my Level Four Lord Poison!" The gates encircled Lord Poison, reducing it to four glowing stars that collided in a flash of fire.

_"Tsumetai honoo ga, sekai no subete wo tsutsumikomu! Shikkoku no hana yo, hirake! Shinkuro Shoukan! Araware o, Burakku Roozu Doragon!" _

With an almighty, wrathful roar, Black Rose Dragon burst from the flames, Misty staring up at it. (7/2400/1800)

"Black Rose Dragon..." Misty murmured. "The proof you are a Signer..." As she stared up at the Signer Dragon, a memory came to her...

She lay on a stretcher in a hospital, being treated by a doctor and nurse.

_"Hang on, Misty!" the nurse urged. _

_"You'll be okay!" the doctor said urgently. "We'll help you, just hold on!"_

"I don't know why my life was spared back then," the Dark Signer said, remembering how a dark lizard marked with green had entered her back then. "But whatever entered my body muttered from within me, telling me to kill the servant of the Crimson Dragon, Black Rose Dragon..."

"You won't!" Akiza retorted as he placed four cards into her disk. "I place four cards facedown and end my turn."

"Watashi no ta-n!" Misty said, drawing her sixth card. "I activate the Field Spell Card, Savage Coliseum." As she activated the Field Spell, the stairways around gained great arches and the walls turned to weathered stone, creating a representation of the Roman Coliseum. "In Savage Coliseum, all monsters must attack if able, and if a monster attacks, its controller gains 300 Life Points at the end of the Damage Step. Finally, any Attack Position monster that doesn't attack is automatically destroyed in the End Phase."

"Why would you play a card that forces attacks while I have a monster with more points than anything you can summon?" Akiza exclaimed.

"Because I have a way to defeat your Dragon," Misty smirked. "First, I activate the Continuous Spell Card, Field Barrier, preventing a new Field Spell from being played and my Savage Coliseum from destruction by card effects!" The glowing green aura formed around Savage Coliseum.

"Now I summon my Reptilianne Gorgon!" Venomous green energy flashed before her, coalescing into a hideous woman, with the trunk of a snake, scales forming her skin, three serpent heads crowning her skull through her hair. A dark purple dress coated her body down to her waist, and her pale yellow eyes glared at Akiza as Reptilianne Gorgon gave a serpentine hiss (3/1400/1400). "Then, I activate another Continuous Spell Card, Attack Pheromones. Now, when a Reptile-Type I control attacks your defense position monster, that defensive monster is forced into attack position at the end of the Damage Step."

"So you gain an edge through your Field Spell..." Akiza realized. "But the fact remains your monster will destroy itself once it battles my Black Rose Dragon!"

"I equip Reptilianne Gorgon with two Equip Spells, Molting Escape and Reptilianne Rage!" Misty shouted, throwing her final cards into her Disk. "Molting Escape prevents an equipped Reptile-Type from being destroyed in battle once per turn, and grants it 300 more attack points each time it's saved by that effect, while Reptilianne Rage grants my monster 800 more points!" Reptilianne Gorgon glowed with venomous energy (3/1400-2200/1400).

"Reptilianne Gorgon, attack Black Rose Dragon! Poison Glance!"

"Counterattack – Black Rose Flare!" Akiza retorted. A venomous light filled the Gorgon's eyes as she glared at Black Rose Dragon, which retaliated with a blast of flames...

**Akiza:** 4000

**Misty:** 3800

However, as per Molting Escape, Reptilianne Gorgon survived shedding her skin and backed away from the flames while her power increased (3/2200-2500/1400).

"So you did all that just to grant 300 more points?" Akiza said, confused.

"More – now, Black Rose Dragon is as good as sealed," Misty replied. Akiza gasped in shock as she looked at her Dragon, which had been petrified to solid stone (7/2400-0/1800). "You see, any monster that battles Reptilianne Gorgon has their attack power reduced to zero and cannot change battle position."

"I-Impossible!" Akiza gasped as she stared at her petrified ace.

"And now I reap the benefit of Savage Coliseum – 300 more Life Points," Misty concluded as a green glow encircled her.

**Akiza:** 4000

**Misty: **4100

"I end my turn," Misty finished.

"Watashi no ta-n!" Akiza said. "Now, since I have to... Black Rose Dragon, attack Reptilianne Gorgon!" The stone dragon was unable to move, and Reptilianne Gorgon shattered it with a single punch, Akiza screaming in pain as the backlash sent her skidding back.

**Akiza:** 1500

**Misty:** 4100

Then the Signer glowed from Savage Coliseum.

**Akiza:** 1800

**Misty:** 4100

"And just like that, you are done." Misty smirked. "You're down to less than half your life points while I'm statistically untouched with 100 points more than initial." You claimed you could protect your place, but look at how your defenses are crumbling... in fact, even your beloved Sayer will be finished soon..." There was a terrifying scream from above, drawing Akiza to turn her attention towards the upper floors of the skyscraper. The Psychic Duelist gasped realizing that Sayer was in just as much trouble as she was, turning her gaze back on Misty.

"Who's dueling him?" Akiza demanded.

"If you want to save him, then you'll have to defeat me," Misty replied smugly.

"And I will," the plant duelist declared as she activated one of her facedown cards, "First, I activate Synchro Spirits! By removing Black Rose Dragon, a Synchro Monster from play, I can special summon the monsters that brought it out to the field from my graveyard!" She stated as her Black Rose Dragon card slid out of her graveyard, letting her place it into her pocket. "Return, Twilight Rose Knight and Lord Poison!"

The grey-haired knight and the tree bark monster returned to the field, in a battle stance. (3/1000/1000), (4/1500/1000)

"Next up, is Dimensional Regression!" Akiza continued as she took her Synchro Monster from her pocket and placed it back into the Extra Deck spot in her duel disk. "It lets me take a Synchro Monster that's removed from play and place it back to my Extra Deck! And after that, I play Urgent Tuning!" She announced, activating her third and final trap card. "This lets me Synchro Summon while I'm in the middle of my Battle Phase, meaning I can tune my knight and Lord Poison again!"

Twilight Rose Knight faded into three Synchro Gates once more, reducing Lord Poison to four glowing stars that clustered and exploded... With an almighty roar, Black Rose Dragon reappeared (7/2400/1800).

"Now since Black Rose Dragon was Synchro Summoned, I can use its effect to destroy every card on the field!" Akiza shouted as the gale of fiery rose petals erupted. "Black Rose Gale!" Everything on the field other than Savage Coliseum (protected by Field Barrier) shattered like glass under the power of the effect.

Misty smirked. "You were willing to destroy everything around you out of your desperation," the Dark Signer said softly. "It's refreshing to see the Black Rose struggle so hard to survive.

"I don't know what you have against me, but you've threatened my life!" Akiza shouted. "So I have to fight back against you with all my power!"

"That's just something you've always done through dueling," Misty retorted, Akiza gasping in shock. "All you've ever done is destroy under the pretext that you're 'saving yourself', not caring how many others are sacrificed in the process! So now, it's time you felt the same despair you've allotted out to others!"

"The despair I allotted to others...?" Akiza whispered.

"The despair you allotted to my brother and me," the Dark Signer said.

"I don't know who your brother is!" Akiza replied.

"Why should you? My brother's existence to you is a mere drop in the bucket... and you killed him!" Akiza's eyes widened in shock and horror.

"W-what did you say?" Akiza gasped weakly, staring at Misty in disbelief...

Luna continued to sit in the medical room, still separated from Leo by a glass screen.

Suddenly, the door was smashed open to reveal Tanner and Yanagi.

"Luna!" Yanagi called.

"How did you find me?" the Signer exclaimed, standing.

"Are you alright?" Tanner asked gruffly, walking into the room. He noticed Leo. "Alright, stand back." He picked up the sofa Luna had been sat on and swung it into the screen, shattering the glass. Luna rushed in and shook her brother awake.

Leo groaned as his eyes slid open. "What happened...?" Then he remembered being attacked by Sayer's Thought Ruler Archfiend and snapped into awareness. "Where's Luna?"

"I'm right here," she replied softly.

"Are you safe?" he urged.

"That should be my line," Luna laughed softly.

"Let's save the reunion for later – we need to get out now!" Tanner said. They ran out of the room.

"My brother died watching you Duel in the Daimon Area," Misty said to Akiza darkly.

"I don't know who your brother is!" Akiza insisted. "And there were no young boys at that Duel Field!"

"He admired you, and he was still a child!" the Dark Signer shouted. "You have a power... one that excels others, one that rules others! It could have been used to save others as well!"

"I don't have the power to save others!" Akiza protested, clenching a fist. "All I have is an accursed power that haunts me every waking moment... She then activated her final facedown card. "I activate Call of the Haunted to resurrect my Black Rose Dragon!" For the third time in this duel, Akiza's signature monster returned with a mighty roar. (7/2400/1800) "Black Rose Dragon, attack her directly! Black Rose Flare!" Black Rose Dragon roared and unleashed a stream of fire, bathing Misty in the flames.

**Akiza:** 1800

**Misty:** 1700

"I end my turn with one card facedown." She concluded.

"You're a fool!" Misty shouted angrily. "A foolish girl who only uses her power for her own needs! If only you didn't exist... then he would... I'll make you pay! I was revived to seek my vengeance against you!"

Luna, Leo, Tanner and Yanagi ran onto the balcony opposite, staring across at Akiza and Misty in horror.

"Akiza!" Luna shouted. Akiza didn't pay attention, still staring dumbstruck at Misty. But then Yanagi then looked at Misty, as if he remembered something.

"Isn't that Misty Tredwell? The world famous supermodel?" He wondered.

Luna then gasped... "She's... a Dark Signer..."

"Watashi no ta-n!" Misty shouted as she drew. "I play Pot of Greed!" She quickly drew two more cards and smirked at her find. "It's time to bring this duel to a close!" her Dark Signer counterpart shouted. "I activate the Spell Card, Reptilianne Spawn! By removing a Reptilianne monster in my Graveyard from play," she pocketed Reptilianne Gorgon, "I Special Summon two Reptilianne Tokens!" Two dark emerald green lizards with staring amber eyes appeared before her (ATK: 0x2).

"But now I Release both Tokens... to unleash a greater power..." The Tokens faded into a sphere of rainbow light as she placed her Earthbound Immortal's card onto her disk.

_"Waga inochi yomigaeraseshi kami yo, saa, kono tamashii wo sasageru! Nagaki jubaku kara toki hanatare yo! Jibakushin Kokaraia!"_ (1)

Another earthquake erupted into being as the sphere of light flew through the window behind Julian and Akiza, rising upwards to the top of the skyscraper and forming into the stone heart that had appeared upon Ccapac Apu's summoning. Within the building, Akiza and Luna's Marks blazed with energy, expanding into spheres of crimson light that surrounded them and those around them.

"What is this?" Tanner wondered, running his hand across the solid sphere.

"I don't know... but I feel it," Luna murmured. "This light will protect us."

Outside, the Earthbound Immortal's heart began to beat. All around, within the Lizard geoglyph, people transformed into purple light and were sucked into the heart, Greiger's guards included. The Peruvian man heard their screams, and looked up at the steel ceiling of the van.

"What's happening?" he wondered.

Within the building, Akiza watched as purple soul-lights surged past, escaping through the window to soak into the stone heart. "What is this?" Akiza asked in shock.

"The Immortals need human souls to gain enough power to take form here..." Misty explained as everyone gasped. "But don't fret, your soul can't be offered up to my Immortal, as the Crimson Dragon protects the Signers and those beside them from being sacrificed... but once this duel is won by me, that protection will vanish... then I can savor watching you being taken by Ccarayhua, Black Rose."

Outside, the stone heart exploded into a pillar of purple fire that rent the heavens and earth. Another earthquake erupted, shaking the entire city to its foundations, as the pillar broke, Misty's Immortal rising up with a hideous roar. Ccarayhua was just as large as Ccapac Apu, a fifty-foot titan that rose up to three-quarters of the skyscraper's height. Like its representative geoglyph, it was a colossal lizard, black-skinned with green geoglyph marks etched across its form, its head like a giant 3D ellipse. Its great bulbous spherical eyes flickered from place to place, rotating fully 360 degrees as its long tongue lashed out at the air, the Immortal giving another roar (10/2800/2400) Inside, Akiza glanced around.

"Where's the monster you summoned?" she wondered. Misty gave a dark smile.

"Look behind you," she replied. Akiza did so, only to gasp in shock and horror as they saw Ccarayhua staring in at them with a baleful gaze!

"What... is... that?" Akiza gasped.

"That's the Immortal!" Misty laughed as her opponent backed away fearfully from the window, turning back to her to try and escape her terrible stare. "It would appear that another Duel has reached its outcome," Misty noted, looking up. Sayer's screams reverberated down the building, forcing Akiza's attention upwards.

"Sayer!" Akiza screamed up at him...

Greiger sat in the van in silence, when suddenly the doors burst open to reveal a man in the robes of a Dark Signer. The Dark Signer stepped into the van.

"Who are you?" Greiger asked.

"I am Devack," the reply came as the Dark Signer drew a card from his Deck and threw it, cutting through the chains holding the Peruvian captive. "If the flames of vengeance within your heart still continue to burn, then you should come with us..."

(Sayer vs. Carly)

Sayer stared at Carly in shock as another earthquake rocked the skyscraper. "What's going on out there?"

"Plans are getting set for your plummet into eternal darkness," the Dark Signer replied. "Our Duel hasn't been settled yet, so if you don't want to die, you'd better fight."

**Carly:** 4000

**Sayer:** 2400

Sayer growled as he drew his next card. "I activate Premature Burial, paying 800 life points to resurrect my Psychic Lifetrancer!"

**Carly:** 4000

**Sayer:** 1600

A dark portal opened up from the ground, bringing back the ethereal Psychic monster. (7/2400/2000)

"And to regain some life points, I remove Psychic Snail with Lifetrancer's effect to regain 1200 life points!" He continued as he took the former mentioned monster from his graveyard and pocketed, letting a large aura of light gather around him.

**Carly:** 4000

**Sayer:** 2800

"Now, Psychic Lifetrancer attack the foolish girl's Fortune Lady Fire!" He commanded as Psychic Lifetrancer gave a cold smirk, hurling her black orb into the Fortune Lady, also serving to push Carly back a few feet.

**Carly:** 2000

**Sayer:** 2800

"I place one card facedown!" Sayer concluded as a reversed card was set on the field. "That should teach you to mess with your superiors!"

"You had one chance!" Carly declared. "One turn to save yourself... but you couldn't!" She drew her next card. "Now due to the effect of Future Visions, my Fortune Ladies Light and Wind return to the field!" The golden-clothed Fortune Lady and the green-clothed Fortune Lady appeared with giggles (1/200/200), (3/900/900). She then revealed her facedown card.

"I activate the Spell Card, Dimension Hole, removing Light from play again until my next Standby Phase!"

The golden Fortune Lady faded away once more. "And since she was removed from the field by a card effect, her effects activates! I'll summon another Fortune Lady Fire!" A flash of flame erupted and a second Fortune Lady Fire appeared before her (2/?-400/?-400). "Now her effect activates, and I'll destroy Psychic Lifetrancer!"

Fortune Lady Fire shot a fireball from her staff, incinerating the Psychic-Type and smashing Sayer against the window again.

**Carly:** 2000

**Sayer:** 400

The Arcadia Leader quickly activated his facedown card, "I activate Call of the Haunted to revive my Psychic Lifetrancer again!" He said in desperation, bringing back his Synchro Monster for the third time. (7/2400/2000)

Carly laughed. "Someone's desperate to keep themselves alive!"

"Be quiet!" Sayer snapped. "As soon as your turn's over, I'll destroy you all over again! Your pitiful Fortune Ladies are only useful when their effects activate. And right now, you have no way of increasing their power!"

"Which is why I'll release both of my Fortune Ladies and Advance Summon..."

Both of the Fortune Ladies transformed to rainbow light and flowed out of the shattered window past Sayer, reforming into another Earthbound Immortal heart. Carly held up the Immortal's card as she began to chant darkly.

_"Ima futatabi, gosennen no toki wo koe, Meifu no Tobira ga hiraku! Ware raga tamashii wo aratanaru sekai no kate tosurugaii! Kourin seyo! Jibakushin Asura Pisuku!" _(2)

Another earthquake erupted as soul-lights flew into the stone heart, which began to beat.

"You're an idiot!" Sayer yelled. "You can play like you know what you're doing all you want, but you're still a third-rate duelist! The moment you Advance Summon, your monster will disappear due to Future Visions!" Carly laughed darkly.

"When Earthbound Immortal Aslla Piscu leaves the field other than by its own effect, all face-up monsters you control are destroyed and you lose 800 Life Points for each!" Carly explained.

A piercing shriek resounded and Sayer turned in shock...

The Immortal heart exploded with purple fire, creating another pillar. As it broke, Aslla Piscu soared into the heavens, a giant, demonic hummingbird as large as Ccarayhua, its skin pitch-black and etched with orange geoglyph symbols. Its beak opened and it gave a hideous, demonic shriek that shattered windows for three miles around. The Earthbound Immortal beat down its wings; lifting into the air and bringing its eyes level with Sayer's office window. (10/2500/2500)

"How can there be a monster that huge?" Sayer cried as he saw the Hummingbird Immortal outside the window.

"Begone, Sayer," Carly said, "into eternal darkness." She turned away and Sayer screamed as Aslla Piscu stabbed its beak into the building, impaling through it. Fire erupted as the entire floor's windows blew out in a massive explosion.

**Carly:** 2000

**Sayer:** 0

Down below, Akiza's eyes widened as a great cloud of smoke and fire erupted into the space within the stairwell. Sayer fell from it, silent.

"SAYER!" Akiza screamed as she watched him fall past her, down into the darkness towards the floor and certain death...

Around them, the walls began to splinter and crack, sending debris falling towards her.

"We need to get out now!" Tanner cried.

"Akiza!" Luna shouted across to the fellow Signer. Akiza was utterly still, eyes wide with grief and shock as she stared down at where Sayer had fallen, hands white as she clutched at the railings.

"There's no time, we have to get out of here!" Tanner shouted as he and Yanagi bustled Leo and Luna out.

"It seems this duel needs postponing," Misty said, walking away as debris fell. "If you survive Black Rose, I will send you off into the shadows..." With that, she was gone. Akiza never acknowledged her, still staring down where Sayer fell... When Tanner and Yanagi emerged from the building with the twins, they got as far away from the unstable building as possible. The Earthbound Immortals were gone, having faded back into the earth from whence they came.

"What happened here?" The group turned at the voice, seeing Jack, who had just dismounted from the Wheel of Fortune.

"We're entirely sure, but we saw Akiza in there dueling a Dark Signer," Tanner replied.

Jack narrowed his eyes, "I thought so... where's Akiza now?"

"She's still inside." Yanagi stated, which was all the Wings Signer needed to hear before rolling into the unstable building even with the protests trying to prevent him from doing so. Once inside, Jack speeds up the flight of stairs before stopping at a certain room and began to call out for survivors.

"Is anybody there?" He shouted as he looked around the floor. The next sight shocked him as he saw the broken glasses that Carly usually wore on the ground, slowly picking them up. "Carly..." he whispered. But then he was interrupted by a grunt of pain, prompting him to turn around and see Akiza knocked out and quickly picked her up and got out of the building in time in time...

On the roof of the skyscraper, Carly stumbled across the pock-marked concrete, eyes normal once more.

"Did I... really...?" she whispered in shock and horror, the dark memories coming back...

_"Begone, Sayer, into eternal darkness!" She walked away silently as Aslla Piscu's beak stabbed right into the man, smashing him through the wall and into the shaft running down the building..._

"How could I do something that horrible?" she whispered, falling to her knees. "Jack... please... help me..."

"Don't be afraid of your destiny." She looked up to see Misty walking towards her. "You were chosen; just as all we Dark Signers were chosen."

"What was I chosen for...?"

"We've won the favor of the God of Death," the other Dark Signer explained. "The moment Death came to visit you, you wished with all your will not to die. Those Gods have granted our wishes, but we're no longer residents of this world as these marks prove." She showed her Lizard mark. "You'll realize it before long... your destiny..." It all proved too much for Carly, who began to cry, Misty wrapping her in a close, soothing embrace.

"It'll be okay," the Lizard Dark Signer whispered. "I'll take you in right now..."

They remained in that tight embrace even as a helicopter piloted by Devack came in to land near them...

Wow… that was intense there. Anyways, again, credit Duelist of Dawn for this chapter okay? So go ahead and review.

(1)- O God which resuscitated my life, now I offer you my soul! Break free from the spell held over you for so long! Earthbound God Ccarayhua!

(2)- Now transcending five thousand years time, the doors of the underworld will open once more! May our souls be the food of the new world! Advent, Earthbound Immortal Aslla Piscu!


	32. Chapter 30: A Heart's Closed Door

Okay, time for the next chapter of Stardust Accelerator: Rise of the Earthbounds! This chapter is also another of those OC x Akiza moments, so I hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: Same thing.

Chapter 30: A Heart's Closed Door

Outside of New Domino Hospital, a black limousine pulled up. The doors were opened and two people stepped out, a tall, grim man in a black suit, with dark brown hair and beard, and a woman who resembled Akiza, wearing an ankle-length pale blue dress with a dark purple sash tied around her waist. The two hurried forwards towards the hospital, passing through a crowd of reporters, who immediately laid into them with a barrage of questions. Some wanted comments about the destruction around the Arcadia Movement, some commented on the identity of the girl, while the rest speculated that the girl was Black Rose who terrorized during her matches at the Fortune Cup. The man kept walking onwards with the woman, into the hospital, the doors closing behind him and immediately being barred by two Sector Security officers. Inside the hospital, in a large room, Akiza was laid on a bed while a doctor and nurse worked to try and bring her back into consciousness. So far their efforts were futile. Through a glass window, Jack, Leo and Luna watched the hospital staff. They had been there since the night before, watching and waiting desperately for Akiza to recover.

"Three Signers being here like this is sorta cool, isn't it?" Leo commented.

"I guess so..." Luna sighed as she stared through the window at Akiza's unconscious form. "Poor Akiza..."

"Still, it's great that we've got most of the Signers here," Leo continued, "Especially since I'll become a Signer soon!"

"Leo, you're not a Signer..." his sister replied.

"But you may be onto something..." Jack said making Luna turn to him.

"Do you think we were brought together for a reason?"

"Perhaps Luna..." Jack stated. "But we'll know once..."

"Akiza?" The three of them turned towards the voice, seeing the woman and man from outside, the woman having just cried out in worry at seeing Akiza.

"Who are they?" Leo wondered.

The doctor and nurse walked out of the room to meet with the man and woman.

"We're her parents." the man said to the doctor.

"What's our daughter's condition?" his wife asked desperately. The doctor sighed and shook his head.

"We've tried everything we could," he replied. "Follow me." The four of them walked inside to stand at Akiza's bedside. "There hasn't been any feedback as of yet, and if I may be so frank, there's a chance she may stay unconscious. She's fine physically, but she must be under something emotionally critical that would keep her this way."

"Doctor..." the man whispered in shock and horror as he looked down at Akiza. His wife fell to her knees, staring at her daughter in the same way.

"Oh baby, please wake up…" she begged sorrowfully. "Forgive your mommy and daddy… please… It's our fault this happened..."

Seeing the distress Akiza's parents were in, Luna's heart went out to them. "We have to help." She said. "If the doctors can't help, maybe we could do something since we're all Signers."

"Yeah, something must've happened between Kurogasa and Yusei!" Leo exclaimed. "There's no other way Kurogasa was well enough to duel Yusei during the finals!"

"Besides," Jack interjected. "If the doc thinks it's emotional problems, then this Kurogasa fellow's the only person who might be able to help her out of this coma." He then walked inside the room to meet Akiza's parents. "I'm Jack Atlas." The former King introduced. "And I know someone who might help your daughter wake up." He told them.

"Please tell us!" Akiza's mother cried.

"Who is it?" Akiza's father added desperately. Jack remembered everything that happened during that person's duel with Akiza before he spoke.

"His name is Kurogasa Kururugi." Jack replied.

An afternoon at Martha's, Kurogasa was in the house with Blister in the dining room. Blister was on his laptop.

"Did you check out the news?" Blister asked as he showed Kurogasa on the laptop the news showing the Nazca Line remains with the Arcadia Movement building at its center.

"Yeah. I can't believe those Dark Signers already got to the city." Kurogasa said.

"Here's some more news, apparently there was one survivor out of all of this. It's the Black Rose herself."

"What? Akiza?" Kurogasa asked shocked.

"Yeah. I hacked into the hospital records of New Domino Hospital and she's in an unconscious state right now."

"Akiza..." Kurogasa muttered quietly taking out his half of the Haos pendant and looking at it before clenching his hand that had the pendant.

"What are you gonna do?" Blister asked.

"As much as I want to help her and get back to New Domino City as soon as I can, I can't do anything. I don't have any means of transportation whatsoever back to the City. I mean, I could use my duel runner and go through the Pipeline, but I have to wait until midnight for the Pipeline to stop flowing trash here and I can't wait that long. And the port is far from here too, so I can't go by ship to get to New Domino City."

"So in other words, you're screwed."

"Pretty much. Unless I have a means of transportation getting to the City, I can't do anything." And with that Kurogasa left the house.

Outside, Yusei was fixing up his Duel Runner from the damage sustained from the Turbo duel with Kalin. He couldn't forget the pain of that duel, nor the fearful sight of how he was inches away from dying thanks to Kalin's Earthbound Immortal. A minute later, Kurogasa walked out of the house and walked up to him.

"Hey Yusei, how's your runner doing?"

"Pretty good. Those parts you, Nervin, and Rally gave me did the trick. It's running very good."

"Glad we could help." Kurogasa and Yusei stayed silent for a while until Kurogasa spoke again. "So... I hear that this is where you lived as a kid huh?" He asked.

"Yeah, me, Crow and Jack," Yusei replied, not looking up from his Runner. "After an incident that caused the Satellite to look like the way it does now, we became orphans after that. Martha took us in."

"Wow..." Kurogasa said in awe, looking back at the house. "If I were orphaned around this side of town, maybe I would've lived here. I wouldn't mind, Martha's a nice woman and she's good with kids."

"Right..." the Satellite muttered in a low voice. Noticing the change of tone, the Haos duelist felt concerned.

"You alright there, Yusei?" He asked. "I mean, I know you're usually like this when you tune up your runner, but now you're... kinda dull..."

"I'm fine." Yusei stated, looking at Kurogasa for a minute before setting his eyes back at the runner. "Just still recovering a bit..."

"There's gotta be something else." the Haos duelist pried. "When I was battered up after that duel with Akiza, I was more upbeat than you. Come on, what's wrong?"

"Nothing..."

Kurogasa sighed, "It's about Kalin, isn't it?"

"I don't want to talk about that." Yusei replied quickly.

"Now hold on, man." The Haos duelist stated firmly. "I also remembered after that duel, you told me not to hide secrets from your friends. It's a bit hypocritical of going against your teachings, don't you think?" Yusei finally decided to give in and talk, "Alright, it's about Kalin. I think Crow told you about our past... the Enforcers?"

"Yeah... Crow said that Kalin took your protesting to Sector Security to free him as selling him out." Kurogasa nodded. "And he's still holding on to that grudge now, making him a Dark Signer..."

"If I am the cause of this, that must mean I'm responsible for his transformation into a Dark Signer." Yusei stated, putting down his tools and standing up in sorrow. "I wonder do I have to fight feeling like this... What do I have to do to stop him?" He then sighed again. "After that duel... I just can't face him..."

Suddenly, he felt a hand on his right shoulder and turned to see Kurogasa's eyes being shadowed by his hair. But the Satellite didn't expect the Haos duelist's next move...

"You'll fight that's what!" Kurogasa shouted as he kicked Yusei's feet from the ground, sending him falling on his back.

"What do you think you're doing?" the Tail Signer groaned, sitting up.

"I'm showing you what you should do!" Kurogasa snapped, staring down at him angrily. "You can fight, Kalin may have been your friend, but now he's an enemy we must defeat! And yes, it's that simple!"

"I-I..." Yusei began, but Kurogasa grabbed him by the collar with a growl of rage.

"I've been hearing too many good things about you from your friends, Yusei! One of them was your determination! I can see that seeing an old friend who's now out to kill you is scaring you a bit, I'd be that way too. But, after a fall like that, I'd still get up and fight after recovering! You know what Kalin is capable of, and you got a chance to set him straight with the facts and in dueling. If you don't, you're only the shell of man I saw in you, and the world will die because of you running away!"

"Kurogasa..." Yusei muttered quietly. He was stunned. He'd never seen Kurogasa acting like this before. All of that was interrupted when a sudden gust of wind blew rather hard, not to mention they could hear the sounds of propellers. Kurogasa let go of Yusei's collar and both looked up to see a helicopter hovering above.

"What's going on?" Yusei asked.

"I don't know, but we're about to find out." Kurogasa answered as the helicopter landed.

Akiza's father stepped out of it. Akiza's father looked to both men and asked, "Are one of you Kurogasa Kururugi?" The Haos Duelist stepped forward.

"That's me. What's going on?"

"I am Senator Hideo Izinski," the man explained to him. "But more importantly… I'm Akiza's father…" A few minutes later, they were all sitting in Martha's dining room. "I want you to save my daughter… to save Akiza!" Hideo replied. "She's in a coma with no signs of her regaining… she's completely unconscious."

Kurogasa gasped. _'It must be because of that Dark Signer attack! The reason our marks went off that night!'_

"We're her parents, and yet… we can't do anything!" Hideo said. "We can't save her… we can't..." Martha placed a cup of tea down beside him.

"Calm down." she said, before her expression hardened slightly. "If you don't explain the situation rationally, we won't understand what's going on!"

"I... understand…" Hideo sighed. He took a sip of the tea before continuing. "My wife said it was our… no, my fault our daughter ended up like this. I thought I was doing everything in my power… however…" He closed his eyes as he remembered…

_He was sat in a limo along with several suited advisors and a driver in the front. "Is it imperative for me to attend this party?" he asked. "Since it's being held by the Public Security Maintenance Bureau, even if you had later plans, you must attend, Senator Izinski." one of the advisors replied. Hideo gave a groan, then his cell phone rang and he answered it._

"_Hello papa!" the younger Akiza said happily. "It's my birthday, so hurry back home!"_

"_Right, will do." Hideo replied, before Akiza hung up. He slumped deeper into his seat, groaning in despair._

_Later that day, he opened the door to walk into his house, and was greeted by his wife._

"_Welcome home." she greeted._

"_Where's Akiza?" he asked softly._

"_In the living room," she sighed. "She got tired of waiting." He walked into the living room to see the younger Akiza wearing a yellow top and orange skirt, sound asleep on the sofa. Sighing again, he took her in his arms and carried her into her room, silently tucking her into bed before kneeling at her side._

"_It had to be today, of all days…" he murmured softly, taking a wrapped box from his pocket and laying it on her bedside table before leaving the room, switching off the light…_

_The next morning, Akiza ran downstairs, gleefully clutching the emerald green Lord of the Storm Structure Deck box that was her father's gift. She burst into the living room, only to see him standing with another of the advisors._

"_We must hurry, Senator." the advisor said._

"_Akiza..." Hideo murmured to her. "I'm sorry… I have an important job to do… so I'll be out of town for a month. Just do what mommy tells…"_

"_No!" Akiza cried. "No... You're not fair, daddy! You said you'd celebrate my birthday with me, and duel with me… I hate you!" And with that, she ran back upstairs, tears streaming from her eyes._

Back in Martha's dining room, Hideo opened his eyes with a sigh. "Wrapped up in the life of a senator… I started to lose more and more time to spend with her…"

"But how do you explain that to a child?" Yusei realized. Hideo nodded.

"I tried to spend as much time as possible with her, no matter how brief!" he said. "Even that one time… when it all went wrong…" He closed his eyes and remembered once more…

_The two were standing in the living room, dueling. Akiza had her Rose Flame Trap Card active, while Hideo had nothing on his field, but suddenly a small dark green sprite with pale pink petals for hair, sat on a lily pad appeared before him, Samsara Lotus._

"_You just had a Plant Special Summoned to your field, so Rose Flame…" Akiza began, but she was cut off by his cell phone ringing. Her eyes widened in horror as he answered it._

"_I... understand…" he sighed, hanging up. "Akiza... this is important… I have to go, so just be a good girl…"_

"_I... I..." Akiza said in deep, almost painful sorrow. "Rose Flame activates!" A burst of fire ripped from the Trap, smashing into Hideo and hurling him back against the far wall. He hit with a sickening CRUNCH and a scream of pain. Akiza's mother looked on in shock as the flames faded and Hideo collapsed to the ground as the Claw Mark of the Dragon ignited in fiery life on Akiza's arm._

"_What... what is it?" she cried. "Papa... help me… I'm scared!" She walked towards him, eyes wide and fearful as her mother rushed to help Hideo._

"_Don't come any closer!" he exclaimed. "Don't!"_

"_I'm scared!" Akiza cried, clutching at the burning mark. "Please, help me, Papa!" She continued to move closer._

"_It's almost as if you're a... monster." he said, before the full meaning of his words hit and he gasped. "No... Forgive me! I didn't mean it! Akiza…!" But it was too late… the little girl stopped dead, tears starting to fall from her eyes…_

"But it just couldn't be helped." Hideo continued. "Rather than stay with parents who couldn't understand their own daughter, it was better for Akiza to stay there… no, it was wrong! I forced Akiza!" He remembered sending Akiza to Duel Academy, hoping that someone there could help her to control her powers. "But, even there, Akiza's powers made her isolated…"

Over in New Domino City, the unconscious Akiza gave a moan, memories stirring in her mind…

_She remembered running home one night, dressed in the regal crimson blazer and charcoal grey skirt of her Duel Academy uniform, her Duel Disk on her arm. She was only two or three years younger._

_She looked in the window of the living room, hearing hearty laughter from her parents as she watched them drink wine together, happy… without her…_

"_Mommy and daddy... look happy..." she murmured sadly. "Because I'm not around…" Tears pooled in her eyes as she bowed her head. She looked up, only to see her parents looking at her, their expressions shocked, hers tearful and pained. With a cry of heartbreak, she hurled a card onto her Disk and every single bit of glass in sight shattered, sending shards raining down on Hideo and his wife as Akiza turned and sprinted away, tears falling in her wake._

"_Akiza!" Hideo called after her…_

She began to stir slightly, falling into another memory.

_She recalled meeting Sayer in an alleyway, how they had dueled and how it had come down to one last attack from her Violet Witch._

"_Violet Witch, attack directly!" she cried, the witch shooting a crimson blast from her staff that struck Sayer and knocked him back slightly. He stepped forwards, laying a gentle hand on her shoulder._

"_To your mother and father," he said, "people without powers, those powers may well be a monster, but to me and those within the Arcadia Movement, who've been persecuted and ridiculed as you have, you're just another fragile human being."_

"_Sayer..." Akiza murmured._

"_Stay here and you won't have to think of the tough times." he told her. "I'll think for you. You can just stay here, just the way you are."_

"_Sayer..." she murmured as he pulled her into a tight embrace..._

Back in Satellite, Hideo had just finished talking.

"My daughter's... Akiza's heart has been closed shut... and my voice can't reach it!" he said. "I heard from Jack Atlas that you tried to save her at the Fortune Cup! He said you could rescue her now! Please…"

Kurogasa sighed and stood up from his chair. "Of course, Senator. I was able to reach out to her during the Fortune Cup in our match, I thought I got to her enough back then... and it's because of these Dark Signers, it was all screwed up... If it worked once, it can work again."

"So, are you going?" Yusei asked.

"Yes." the Haos duelist replied back without a moment's hesitation. "I promised I wouldn't forget about her, and I'm not starting now. You got my back?"

The Satellite nodded, "Yeah... sooner or later we'll be facing the Dark Signers and we need all the help we can get."

"Thank you." Hideo said softly. "We'll head out right away." He left the room.

"I see you like this Akiza girl." Martha said slyly, shocking the Haos Duelist a bit before he calmed down.

"Y-Yeah..." Kurogasa replied, blushing a little bit.

"There's no need to be shy!" she laughed. "Go out there and nab your future wife!" Soon Kurogasa's small blush grew into a full blush across the face.

"Wait a minute…! I'm not..."

Yusei had a small chuckle as he soon led his blushing friend out of Martha's house to meet up with Hideo.

Around half an hour later, Leo and Luna sighed in relief as Kurogasa, Yusei and Hideo walked into the hospital room.

"Yusei! Kurogasa!" Leo and Luna greeted.

"Hey guys." He said. Kurogasa walked past the twins, Akiza's mother and Jack as Hideo and Yusei went to them and Kurogasa stopped beside her bed. "Akiza... it's me... Kurogasa... " He murmured as he saw the tears on her cheeks. He pulled off his glove and gently wiped them from her cheeks, when suddenly his Mark of the Dragon and hers blazed into life, Akiza's eyes slowly opening. She was surprised to see who it was. "Akiza..."

"Kurogasa... you came back..." Akiza murmured smiling a little bit happy to see him as she got up from the bed.

"Of course I did..." Kurogasa smiled back gently. "I heard you were in the hospital so I came as fast as I could. I'm glad you're okay now."

"Akiza!" Hideo cried happily. Her eyes instantly narrowed. Her expression hardening as she saw her parents.

"What are you doing here?" she spat at them. "I no longer need you!" The words hit the two like bullets, and they staggered back in shock and horror. "I have a new family!" Then she clutched at her head as she remembered what happened to Sayer, remembering that he fell to his death. "No... Sayer's... gone..."

"Akiza..." Kurogasa murmured, but she recoiled away from him, leaping from the bed as she grabbed her Duel Disk.

"Sayer gave me the one thing my dad deprived me of – my place!" she cried, Hideo gasping. "And now that he's gone, you're here to laugh at me again, right? Well then, I'll show you the power of a 'monster' just one more time, daddy!"

"Akiza!" Hideo cried out.

"Stop this!" Kurogasa yelled at her, trying to snap her out of her rage. "Your father regrets what he did… he regrets calling you a monster more than anything, Akiza!"

"No!" With that harsh word, Kurogasa was knocked back by an invisible force. Once he looked back up to Akiza, he gasped seeing her fiery, savage gaze. "Weren't you the one? The one who said that you didn't have to be my enemy, that you could be my friend? You're just another enemy – one of mine!" She activated her Disk, throwing her Deck into place.

"Akiza!" Hideo cried for the third time.

"You're an enemy who snatched my place from me!" Akiza continued to Kurogasa, throwing a card onto her Disk. A burst of wind erupted, hurling all others in the room away dispersing all the hospital equipment and bed to the walls. Jack quickly caught Leo and Luna and held them tightly, as Hideo and his wife held each other and Yusei just braved the storm, forcing himself forward through it, reaching Akiza's parents.

"It looks like the only way for me to reach your heart is through dueling." Kurogasa murmured as the storm died. "I said that I won't forget you, and I'm here to help. I'm your friend!"

"We're not friends – we're indeed destined to fight!"

"We aren't!" Kurogasa replied taking his Angel Wing duel disk and activating it by inserting his deck in the slot. _'This duel is to prove we're friends! And that I care about you!'_ "Whenever you're ready!"

"DUEL!"

**Kurogasa:** 4000

**Akiza:** 4000

"Watashi no ta-n!" Akiza declared and drew her sixth card. "I play Double Summon letting me summon twice this turn! Now I summon Evil Thorn in attack mode!" A plant with a wilted flower and black oval-shaped ball with spikes appeared (1) (ATK: 100/DEF: 300). "And then I'll activate its special ability by sacrificing it and inflicting 300 points of damage to you!" The black spike ball bloated up and then exploded sending the spikes over to the other side. Luckily, all but one missed. One of thorns hit Kurogasa on his right arm. Kurogasa grunted in pain as the thorn stabbed him and grunted more in pain as he took out the thorn and blood trickled down his arm.

**Kurogasa:** 3700

**Akiza:** 4000

Luna gasped as she saw the pain Kurogasa was subjected to.

"It's the first round, and he's already behind," Leo stated. "And Akiza's Psychic Powers hurt him again!"

"And there may be more coming." Yusei added.

"And with that I can special summon 2 more Evil Thorns from my deck!" Two more of the same plant appeared. "But I'm not done there. I'll normal summon a second time by summoning Twilight Rose Knight!" The female light-blue haired purple armored knight with sword appeared (3) (ATK: 1000/DEF: 1000). "And when my knight is summoned, I can special a level 4 or below Plant-type monster from my hand, so now I summon my Dark Verger!" The plant with two leaves with an eye on each appeared (2) (ATK: 0/DEF: 1000).

"Oh man..." Kurogasa said gritting his teeth.

"That's not good!" Leo exclaimed. "That's 2 level 1's, a level 2, and a level 3! That's a total of..."

"Seven." Luna finished.

"This could only mean one thing..." Jack added.

"I now tune my 2 level 1 Evil Thorns, my level 2 Dark Verger with my level 3 Twilight Rose Knight!"Akiza declared as the female knight turned into three green rings while the other monsters turned into four stars. The stars lined up on the tunnel of rings.

"_Tsumetai honoo ga, sekai no subete wo tsutsumikomu! Shikkoku no hana yo, hirake! Shinkuro Shoukan! Araware o, Burakku Roozu Doragon!"_

A beam of light shot out of the rings and then Akiza's ace monster appeared with its red rose petal wings and black thorn whips (7) (ATK: 2400/DEF: 1800). A sudden force of wind started to pick up again as everyone but Akiza braved the storm.

"Seeing that Akiza summoned Black Rose Dragon this early, she's going full force." Jack said.

"She did this last time during their first duel." Yusei added.

"Since this is only the first turn, I'll place one card facedown and end my turn." Akiza looked at her father and saw the same eyes when he called her a monster and then she turned towards Kurogasa. "I vow to make you suffer Kurogasa! With Sayer and the place I call home gone, I plan on getting rid of every place of this world!"

"I can' let you do that Akiza! Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa declared and drew his sixth card. "I play _my_ Double Summon spell card letting me normal summon twice this turn! So now I summon my Haos Manion and Haos El Condor in attack mode!" The white and yellow sphinx-like creature with wings first appeared (3) (ATK: 1350/DEF: 1000). Then the white skinny shaman creature with the large Aztec mask appeared as well. (ATK: 1300/DEF: 1100). "Next I activate the spell card Rapid Haos! If there's a light attribute monster on the field I can special summon another light monster from my hand or deck. I special summon my Haos Robattalion from my deck in attack mode!" A white and yellow humanoid-like robot appeared on the field as well (2) (ATK: 900/DEF: 400).

"Awesome! With those on the field, he can summon Leonidas!" Leo cheered.

"Now I'll tune my level 3 Manion with my level 3 El Condor!"

"WHA?" Leo said confused as the process of the synchro summoning started to happen.

"_Ten no houshakou ha, kurayami no ue ni kagayaki, subete no eien no tame ni sore o fusshoku suru Shinkuro Shoukan! Migaki ni, Haos Ancient Nemus!"_

A beam of light shot out of the rings and the male angelic warrior with staff in hand appeared in defense mode (6) (ATK: 2400/DEF: 2000).

"Why did he do that?" Leo exclaimed still confused.

"Don't you remember? Nemus's ability can bring a monster back from the graveyard once per turn. If he keeps on reviving one of his tuner monsters, then he can always synchro summon other powerful monsters." Luna reminded him.

"Ohh..." Leo understood.

"Now I'll activate Nemus's ability! Once per turn, I can bring back a monster from my graveyard, so I bring El Condor! Divine Light!" Nemus's staff glowed, pointed his staff on the ground and El Condor was back on the field. "Now I'll tune my level 2 Robattalion with my level 3 El Condor!"

"He's gonna summon Blade Tigrerra then?" Leo asked.

"Nope." Kurogasa answered his question which left Morphtronic duelist and his friends confused as the process began again.

"_Seigi no hikari ga tsuneni yūsen sa remasu! Sore wa fusei no yami o terashite miyou! Shinkuro Shoukan! Araware o, Haos Contestir!"_ (1)

A beam of light shot out of the rings and a warrior-like creature that looks like an EVA Unit from Neon Genesis Evangelion appeared (5) (ATK: 2200/DEF: 1800). It can't be explained much clearer than that.

"That's new." Leo commented.

Next, I activate Contestir's ability! When he's successfully synchro summoned, I can discard one card from my hand to cut your dragon's attack power in half, but by doing so, I can't destroy it in battle!" Kurogasa said as he discarded one card from his hand to the graveyard.

Black Rose Dragon- (ATK: 1200/DEF: 1800).

"Now I'll play the equip spell card, Spartablaster! Giving Contestir an extra 400 attack point boost!" A cone like weapon appeared, attached itself on Contestir's back and opened up to reveal four pointy ends.

Haos Contestir- (ATK: 2600/DEF: 1800)

"Now Contestir, attack Black Rose Dragon with Spartablaster Sol!" Kurogasa ordered.

"I activate the trap, Ground Capture! When my opponent declares an attack, I can halve the battle damage I would've taken. And if I take 500 or more points of damage, I get to draw one card." The beams of light hit the dragon making it roar in pain.

**Kurogasa: **3700

**Akiza: **3300

Akiza then drew one card since it was more than 500 points of damage.

"I'll end my turn with a facedown." Kurogasa finished. Black Rose Dragon's attack power return to normal...

"Watashi no ta-n!" Akiza declared and drew her card. "I play Card of Sanctity! Both of us draw until we have six cards in our hand." Akiza said. Both did as the card instructed. Now I play the equip spell, Thorn of Malice! I equip it to Black Rose Dragon and it gains 600 attacks points! This card gives Black Rose Dragon the ability to do piercing damage. It can't destroy the monster it's battling, but when it attacks, the attacked monster loses 600 attack and defense!" The thorns on the vines that Black Rose Dragon had grew larger and sharper and its head also has spikes.

Black Rose Dragon- (ATK: 3000/DEF: 1800)

"Akiza!" Hideo cried out to her.

"Those eyes… they're the same… as back then… the same eyes that look like they've seen a monster! I'll make you suffer the same fate!" she replied coldly to her father. "If the place Sayer provided for me is gone… I'll wipe every place off the face of this world!" She then turned back to Kurogasa with her move. "Now I activate Black Rose Dragon's special ability! By removing a plant type monster from play, I can make Contestir's attack points zero!" Akiza removed Evil Thorn and then Contestir's attack points suddenly dropped.

Haos Contestir- (ATK: 0/DEF: 1800).

"Now Black Rose Dragon attack his Haos Contestir!" The rose dragon whipped its vines with its thorns at the EVA unit like creature.

"I activate my trap Negate Attack cancelling your attack!" Kurogasa countered revealing his trap. A clear vortex formed in front of Contestir blocking the attack.

"Hmph." Akiza scoffed with disgust. "I'll end my turn with two facedowns." Akiza concluded putting the two reverse cards down on her field. Contestir's attack points returned to 2600. She looked down at her glowing mark. "This was a wretched mark all along… I don't care about 'Signers'… not even you can save me, Kurogasa. The single, solitary person who accepted me in this world was Sayer. He was the only one who gave me a place for myself. It wasn't my dad and it wasn't you, but all Sayer! Now I don't have a place where I belong in this world, so I'll do the same to all of you!"

"You're wrong, Akiza!" Kurogasa protested. "You always had a place where you belong, and you always did!"

"Without Sayer, there is no place in this world for me!" She retorted. "And when I'm done with all of you, I'll turn this world to ruin!"

After her outburst, the clip fell from her hair and a whirlwind erupted, Jack and Yusei grunting from the effort of holding Leo and Luna down as Akiza's parents still held on to each other...

"_Her powers are getting stronger as her hatred grows…" _Kurogasa mused. _"I have to do something to protect the others, before she kills them all!" _

"Ore no ta-n!" He declared and drew a card. "I activate Nemus's special ability! Once per turn, I can bring back a monster from my graveyard back to the field, so I bring back my Haos El Condor once more. Divine Light!" A bright shined from his staff and El Condor returns to the field. "Now I summon my Haos Siege to the field!" The white knight appeared with his staff ready (4) (ATK: 1900/DEF: 1400). "And then I'll tune my level 3 El Condor with my level 4 Siege!" The Aztec shaman turned into three green rings and Siege turned into four stars. The stars lined up in the tunnel of rings.

_"Kurai kokoro no okusoko kara , sono megumi to anata no kokoro ni hikari o kagayaka seru! Shinkuro Shoukan! Araware o! Haos Lars Lion!"_

A beam of light shot out of the rings and then the female angelic warrior appeared on the field (7) (ATK: 2500/DEF: 2000).

"I activate the trap, Bottomless Trap Hole! When a monster with 1500 or more attack points is summoned, it is destroyed and removed from play!" A hole appeared below the female angelic warrior and was sucked in. Never to return. Kurogasa then puts the card in his pocket showing it was removed from play.

"She was ready for that move!" Yusei gasped.

"But not this one, I'll activate the spell Attribute Change!" Kurogasa continued. "This let me change the attribute of a monster. And I choose Black Rose Dragon's attribute to be Dark!" The rose petals on the dragon went from red to purple. "Then I'll activate the spell card, Darkus and Haos Correlation! It can only work if there's a dark and light attribute monster on the field. The dark monster loses 1000 and the light monster gains 1000! And I'll give to Contestir!" Energy from Akiza's dragon drained into Kurogasa's EVA unit.

Haos Contestir- (ATK: 3600/DEF: 1800)

Black Rose Dragon- (ATK: 2000/DEF: 1800)

"Then I'll switch Haos Ancient Nemus to attack mode!" Nemus got up with his staff ready to go. "Haos Ancient Nemus, attack her Black Rose Dragon with Sparkly Arrow!" The male angelic warrior raised his staff and swung it sending a wave of light energy at the dragon.

"I activate my Mirror Force! It destroys every monster that's in attack mode!" A mirror formed in front of Black Rose Dragon and blocked it. Then the mirror shattered and sent the attack right back at Kurogasa's monsters destroying them into pixels. "What's wrong?" She taunted. "Has it sunk in that you can't help me?"

"I'll still continue on! I end my turn with two facedowns." Kurogasa concluded.

"Watashi no ta-n!" Akiza declared and drew a card. She then narrowed her eyes. "It's the end for you; I summon my Phoenixian Seed in attack mode!" The seed with the big eye on it with a small red plant appeared. (2) (ATK: 800/DEF: 0). "Next I can remove this card from play and special summon my Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis!" The seed exploded and when the smoke cleared, it revealed the phoenix-like plant (8) (ATK: 2200/DEF: 0). "Now Amaryllis, attack Kurogasa's life points directly!" The phoenix plant unleashed flames from the beak like petal to Kurogasa making him scream in pain.

**Kurogasa: **1500

**Akiza: **3300

"Kurogasa!" His friends cried.

"And if you think that's the end of your torment, think again! After damage calculation, my Amaryllis destroys itself and inflicts another 800 points of damage to you!" The phoenix plant exploded and the burning flew to Kurogasa making him cry in pain again.

**Kurogasa: **700

**Akiza: **3300

"And now, to finish you... Black Rose Dragon, attack his life points directly and end his life with Black Rose Flare!" Akiza yelled. The dragon then breathed purple flames and petals out of its mouth towards Kurogasa.

"This is it!" Jack shouted as the flames neared its target.

"I activate... my first trap Nutrient Z!" Kurogasa countered. "If I'm about to take 2000 or more points of damage, I can gain 4000 before the attack hits!" A small bottle appeared in Kurogasa's hand; he opened it up and drank the contents of it in one gulp before throwing it away.

**Kurogasa: **4700

**Akiza: **3300

The flames hit Kurogasa braving out the attack and the pain the flames gave him.

**Kurogasa: **1700

**Akiza: **3300

"I'll end my turn with that. Now at the end phase, my Amaryllis can come back by me removing one plant type monster from my graveyard." Akiza finished as she removed Dark Verger from play and the phoenix plant returned to the field in defense mode.

Kurogasa started to breathe heavily from the attack as he stood his ground from the burns.

"You always find some way to keep yourself alive." The plant duelist retorted. "Fine, since your deciding to keep yourself in the duel, I'll enjoy watching you squirm every time my monsters decimate your life points."

"Whatever it takes to reach you... Ore... no ta-n..." Kurogasa said and slowly drew a card. "I activate my other facedown, Monster Reborn. I bring back Nemus to the field. An ankh appeared in the sky and the male angelic warrior appeared in place of the ankh. "Then I'll activate Nemus's ability, so I bring back El Condor back on the field. The Aztec shaman then returned as well by the power of Nemus. "Now I'll summon my Haos Saurus in attack mode!" The white and yellow bipedal triceratops appeared on the field (4) (ATK: 1700/DEF: 1500). "Now I'll tune my level 3 El Condor with my level 4 Saurus!" The process of the synchro summon began to happen again.

_"Hikari no ken yami no tate o tsuranuku! Sore wa kurayami no naka ni tatte, subete o keihatsu shiyou! Shinkuro Shoukan! Piasu, Haos Lumagrowl!" _(2)

A beam of light shot out of the rings then a large white dog with yellow with six tails that looked like swords appeared (7) (ATK: 2700/DEF: 2350).

"Another new monster?" Jack wondered.

"But it doesn't have enough points to battle Akiza's dragon." Leo stated.

"Now I'll play the equip spell, Barias Gear!" The Haos duelist continued, activating another card. "It gives Lumagrowl 300 attack points and it grants him the ability to do piercing damage." The battle gear attached to the dog and then discs came out of the gear.

Haos Lumagrowl- (ATK: 3000/DEF: 1800)

"He's not thinking of attacking Amaryllis..." Luna said, worried for the damage it would cost her friend.

"I know, Luna." Yusei replied. "He has to keep this duel long enough to reach Akiza, but also put him at a spot to win once he does."

"Now Haos Lumagrowl, attack her Amaryllis with Barias Gear Lightning!" Kurogasa ordered. The discs glowed with yellow energy and shot lightning out of the discs, destroying the phoenix plant.

**Kurogasa: **1700

**Akiza: **300

"You still take 800 points of damage when it is destroyed!" Akiza reminded Kurogasa as the burning seeds pelted on Kurogasa.

**Kurogasa: **900

**Akiza: **300

"I'll end my turn with a face down." Kurogasa concluded. "It's almost over Akiza..."

"For you! Watashi no ta-n!" Akiza declared and drew her card. "I activate Black Rose Dragon's ability again! I remove a plant type monster from play, and I can make your monster's attack points zero, so I choose your Lumagrowl!" Akiza removed a second Evil Thorn from her graveyard and made Lumagrowl attack points zero.

Haos Lumagrowl- (ATK: 0/DEF: 1800)

"If only he had a card to negate that effect." Jack mused.

"Now Black Rose Dragon, attack his Lumagrowl and end this duel!" Akiza commanded. Black Rose Dragon unleashed its purple flames and petals at Lumagrowl.

"I activate my Defense Draw trap card!" Kurogasa countered. "During damage calculation, I take zero damage and then I get to draw one card." Kurogasa said. It hit Lumagrowl, making it growl in pain, but thanks to Thorn of Malice, it can't be destroyed. Also, the emerald barrier from the trap blocked Kurogasa as he drew a card.

"I'll end my turn with a facedown." Akiza scoffed. "It's only a matter of time."

"Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa declared and drew his card. "I play Card of Demise! It lets me draw until I have five cards in my hand. On my 5th standby phase, I lose my entire hand." Kurogasa drew until he had five cards. "I activate Nemus's ability, and I'll bring back Haos El Condor!" The shaman creature returned to the field. "Then I play the spell Demotion, lowering a monster's level by two, so I lower Lumagrowl's level by 2."

Haos Lumagrowl's level: 5

"With those levels he can summon..." Yusei whispered.

"Now I'll tune my level 5 Lumagrowl with my level 3 El Condor!" Kurogasa declared as the synchro summoning process began.

_"Shinzou no tamashii ga, piasu no hikari o kensaki to yami o uchikudaku! Shinkuro Shoukan! Araware o, Haos Omega Leonidas!" _

A beam of light shot out of the rings and then Kurogasa's ace dragon appeared (8) (ATK: 3000/DEF: 2500).

"That's good!" Leo cheered. "Now that Kurogasa has his dragon out, he can use its special ability to win the duel!"

"Now I activate Leonidas's special ability! I choose one monster from my graveyard and Leonidas receives half of the chosen monster's attack points! And I choose Haos Siege!" A faint image of the knight went into Leonidas.

Haos Omega Leonidas- (ATK: 3950/DEF: 2500)

"Now Leonidas, attack with Omega Eraser!" Kurogasa ordered. Leonidas got on all fours and fired a huge laser beam from its mouth.

"If it connects, he can stop this!" Yusei stated as the beam neared Black Rose Dragon.

"I play _my _Negate Attack trap card!" Akiza declared revealing it. A clear vortex formed in front of Black Rose Dragon and it sucked the beam in. "Not even your precious dragon can help you! You can't protect your friends or anyone else! And once it's my turn, I'll make good on my promise to let you suffer and your dragon!"

"Akiza!" Hideo cried out. "Stop this; there's no need for this!"

"Not a chance..." She whispered harshly.

"Don't turn away from him, Akiza!" Kurogasa protested. "He's sorry for what he said to you, that's why he and your mother are here now!"

"They only came to mock me after Sayer's death!" She shouted, causing another whirlwind. "Quit trying to prolong your own death, and end your turn already so I can finish you off!"

'_She's not listening to Kurogasa.' _Hideo thought as he looked on towards the duel. _'It's like she's a mon... NO! I can't think like that! The only reason's she in this is because I wasn't there for her when she was afraid. I turned my back on her, but no more...'_

"I'll end my turn with two facedowns." Kurogasa concluded placing the reverse cards. Leonidas's points returned to normal.

"So you've given up on me," Akiza taunted. "I thought you wanted to help me because you care... but just like everybody else, you're shunning me away."

"Never!" Kurogasa shouted, causing the plant duelist to gasp. "You can push me away all you want, but I don't turn my back on those I care about!"

Everyone except Jack gasped at the Haos Duelist's declaration.

"You... care..." Akiza whispered.

"That's what I've been trying to tell you." Kurogasa stated. "I won't give up on you, and this duel!"

The plant duelist sighed, "Yeah... you say that now, everyone will make up... and then you'll send me away for the fear of the monster returning!" She yelled as she drew her next card. "I won't let that happen! I play Gryphon's Feather Duster! I destroy all spells and traps on my side of the field and I gain 500 life points!" A big feather swept away Thorn of Malice. It reduced her dragon's attack points, but gained 500 points out of that.

**Kurogasa: **900

**Akiza: **800

"Next I activate the spell Wonder Clover! Thanks to this, by discarding one plant type monster from my hand, my dragon can attack twice now!" Akiza said discarding Lord Poison from her hand. "That way if have some way of saving yourself again, I'll make sure it won't happen again after your monsters are gone!"

Everyone saw what was coming next, worried for the Haos duelist for when it would happen...

"Next I activate Black Rose Dragon's ability again! I remove a plant type monster from my graveyard and one of your monster's attack points become zero and I choose Leonidas!" She removed her final Evil Thorn from play and Leonidas's attack points went to zero.

Haos Omega Leonidas- (ATK: 0/DEF: 2500)

"I fell for that once before, when my so-called father sent me away, so that he could have a happier life..." She said as she shook with anger. "And he's going to watch as you pay for his mistakes! Black Rose Dragon, attack his Ancient Nemus first! Black Rose Flare!" Akiza commanded. The dragon breathed purple flames and destroyed it in pixels around Kurogasa as he tried to defend himself from it. "Now finish this duel and destroy Leonidas and Kurogasa!" Akiza yelled. Black Rose Dragon then breathed its flames again on Leonidas, the dragon struggled to free itself from the Black Rose Dragon's thorns to no avail.

That's when the unthinkable happened...

"No!" Hideo cried, leaping in the way to take the blow. "Stop this, Akiza! Don't hurt any more people!"

Akiza just narrowed her eyes. "If you try and defend him, then I'll only attack you as well!" She yelled at her father. "Black Rose Dragon, unleash your full power!" The dragon unleashed a larger flame towards the weakened Dragon, its Signer and now Akiza's father. Once the flames reached them, Hideo, Kurogasa and Leonidas screamed in pain. Leonidas was destroyed and then...

BOOM!

"Kurogasa!" Yusei and his friends cried.

"Hideo!" Akiza's mother cried out.

"It's over." Akiza said. But when the smoke cleared, Kurogasa and Hideo were... still standing and Leonidas was still there! They were really burnt up, mostly their clothes and the Haos Duelist was holding onto the Senator as they both breathed heavily. And more confusingly, the duel was still on.

**Kurogasa: **660

**Akiza: **800

"WHAT?" Akiza said in disbelief.

"They survived!" The Twins said in the same tone.

"But how?" Jack asked.

"They couldn't have survived that and Leonidas was destroyed!" Yusei said. The dust cleared more to reveal that he activated two of his facedowns: Reduction Barrier and Miracle's Wake.

"Sorry... but with my Reduction Barrier and Miracle's Wake that was on the field, this duel is still on..." The Haos duelist said. He then turned to the injured man in front of him. "Why'd you take that attack? You could've been killed."

"Because it's time I stopped running from her..." He replied weakly.

"Making your last desperate stand? A single desperate shot at victory?" Akiza shouted. "Leonidas can't defeat my Black Rose Dragon long enough to save you or anyone else!" At her angry words, a storm of blazing petals erupted once more, smashing against Kurogasa and her father as Leonidas spread its wings to defend the other occupants of the room.

Hideo weakly stood, stumbling towards Akiza. "My little girl… please, give us another chance…"

"Stay back!" she retorted fiercely, but he kept moving forwards.

"Senator, move!" Yusei cried. "You're going to get hurt!" The petals continued to bombard Hideo, but he kept walking despite the blood and pain.

"It's all right," he groaned. "I'm decided. No matter how much Akiza hurts me, I won't turn a blind eye to her, and I'll listen to her every whisper."

"I don't believe you!" Akiza shouted.

"Aren't they right there in front of you?" Kurogasa spoke over the howling winds. "The eyes with their gaze on you, the ears that answer to your sorrow… those very things, your mother and father… aren't they the place where you belong?"

"Right in front of me…" Akiza whispered, before shaking her head fiercely. "No! No!"

"Akiza, listen to me! Remember when we first dueled... before I past out... I told you to find your light?"

Akiza gasped when she remembered.

"Well, I've too have been searching for my light... I lost it when my parents died. I continued to search for that light for ten years. And now I found it again... I don't lose it again with this rage and hatred you're lashing out..." Kurogasa said with his head down, his hair covering his eyes.

"What are you talking about?" Akiza asked confused.

"I'm saying... I'm saying that the light I once lost ten years ago... is found... in you! You are _MY_ light Akiza!" Kurogasa said holding his head back up. The plant duelist gasped at this. And then, all of the Crimson Dragon birthmarks glowed.

"The birthmarks!" Kurogasa gasped as his Body Mark glowed.

"What the-" Yusei gasped as his Tail Mark did the same.

"It's happening again." Jack said as his Wings Mark shined.

"Luna! Your mark!" Leo exclaimed.

"I know..." Luna said as her Front Claw Mark showed.

"What...?" Akiza said as her Rear Claw Mark shined as well.

Far away, The Mark of the Head glowed on the arm that was in the canister. The Head Mark disappeared. Back at the duel, everyone's else marks disappeared as well. Everyone gasped at this as it was transferred all to Kurogasa. The full seal of the Crimson Dragon was now on his back.

"The full seal!" Yusei exclaimed.

"That could only mean one thing." Jack said.

"He's going to summon Savior Dragon!" Luna added.

"Awesome! He's definitely going to win for sure!" Leo cheered.

Then the top card of Kurogasa's deck glowed. "This is it Akiza! With this, I'll definitely win this duel and save you! Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa declared and drew the card that glowed. "I summon Savior Dragon!" Kurogasa shouted. The same small, pink dragon with a curvy head, yellow eyes and small wings appeared (1) (ATK: 0/DEF: 0).

"And now I special summon Turbo Booster, since I normal summoned this turn!" Kurogasa said. Rally's favorite monster appeared on the field (1) (ATK: 0/DEF: 0). "And now I tune my level 8 Haos Omega Leonidas and level 1 Turbo Booster, with my level 1 Savior Dragon!" Kurogasa said. The monsters flew up in the air. Savior Dragon then turned transparent and grew very large as a green ring formed inside it. Leonidas turned into 8 stars and Turbo Booster into 1 star making the total 9. The nine stars lined up in the green ring inside Savior Dragon.

"_Kibōto jihi no hikari wa kokoro no kurai jōka suru! Sono kagayaki wa sukui ni bīkon to akarui mirai ni natte miyou! Shinkuro Shoukan! Kouraiseyo, Haos Savior Leonidas!"_

A beam of light shot out of Savior Dragon and then the evolved form of Haos Omega Leonidas appeared and it roared with majesty and authority as light shined from it. (10) (ATK: 4000/DEF: 3000). "Now I activate Savior Leonidas's special ability! I remove 5 light attribute monster from the game, and it gains the attack strength of every single one that was removed..." "So I remove _Omega_Leonidas, Ancient Nemus, Lumagrowl, Contestir, and Siege!" Faint images of the 5 mentioned monsters appeared before Savior Leonidas and the dragon absorbed their energy into him.

Haos Savior Leonidas- (ATK: 16,200/DEF: 3000)

As the Dragon shined with more light, Akiza's powers seemed to intensify, battering her father with more razor-sharp petals that ripped into him.

"Akiza!" Hideo cried out in pain.

"Daddy… daddy!" she cried at him. The hospital machinery was swept up by the storm, hurtling towards Hideo…

"Senator!" Kurogasa shouted as he tried to push through the storm to get to Akiza's father, but it was pushing back and making him unable to move.

"No!" Akiza cried out, clenching a fist. The storm instantly ceased, the machinery crashing to the ground mere inches from her father. Her eyes widened in shock, staring at the machinery, then at her fist. "I… stopped it…"

"Akiza…" Hideo groaned, and she ran to him as he collapsed. Kurogasa stopped, staring at the two in amazement and with a smile.

"Finally..." He whispered.

"Daddy…" Akiza whispered softly as her mother ran forwards to join them.

"Akiza… please forgive me for what I've done…" Hideo said. "Regardless of what powers you have… even if I was afraid of them, I should've held you tight, like this, because I love you." Akiza closed her eyes, before opening them as she looked up at the Haos duelist. "End this, please…" she murmured. "I don't want to fight anymore..."

Kurogasa nodded as they both shared a smile. "Leonidas... end it..." The dragon then shined light from itself and it grew brighter and brighter as Black Rose Dragon roared as it was engulfed in the light and Akiza's life points depleted.

**Kurogasa: **660

**Akiza: **0

As the light faded away, Akiza laid in her father's arms, shutting her eyes from being blind.

"Akiza..." He murmured as she opened her eyes. Once she did, she gave a heartwarming smile to her parents...

"Mom... dad... I missed you..." She said as the reunited family shared a group hug.

"We'll start all over..." Hideo said, "I won't leave you ever again..."

"I'm sorry... I hurt everyone..." Akiza replied.

"Akiza..."

She turned to see Kurogasa and Yusei walk up to her.

"I know you and your family have a lot of catching up to do, but we need your help to face the Dark Signers." The Satellite offered.

"And know we will stand by your side, like I promised." Kurogasa added as he held up the half of his pendant. "So, what do you say?"

Akiza smiled as she lightly touched her own half, "I will…" she whispered.

"Yeah!" Leo cheered. Luna smiled and Jack smirked.

"I guess these marks _did_ bring us together for a reason." Luna said.

"I think it's because that all of us were drawn together by the birthmarks to become friends." Kurogasa said and turned to Akiza. "So, our marks aren't wretched as you say they are Akiza."

"But... I lost a friend that I trusted for so long..." Akiza said looking away sadly.

"I know what you mean." Yusei said making Akiza look at him. "I lost a friend too. We didn't see eye to eye and that caused us to drift apart. Although I can't see where those paths will take both of us, I will gear up for the worst, because we had once called ourselves friends."

"So you decided Yusei?" The Haos Duelist asked turning towards him.

"Yes. I'm gonna face Kalin again. I'm gonna set him straight on the facts and in dueling." Yusei decided.

"Glad to hear it." Kurogasa smirked. _'We have to win this one. No matter what.'_

Okay people, you've read the chapter, so get to it and review!

(1)- The light of justice will always prevail! Let it shine on the darkness of injustice! Synchro Summon! Appear now, Haos Contestir!

(2)- The sword of light pierces the shield of darkness! Let it enlighten all that stand in the darkness! Synchro Summon! Pierce, Haos Lumagrowl!


	33. DUEL MONSTER DECK DATABASE UPDATE 2

**Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Stardust Accelerator DUEL MONSTER DECK DATABASE #2**

Hey everyone! This is another Duel Monster Database update. Like I said, some cards will be added, some new ones replacing the old ones, and effect monster's effects, spell, and trap effects may change, so I'm giving you a heads up. Here's another update on Kurogasa's deck.

Monsters

Haos Falconeer  
Level: 4  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Winged-Beast  
ATK/DEF: 1600/1400

Haos Hynoid  
Level: 4  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Beast  
ATK/DEF: 1300/1000

Haos Juggernoid  
Level: 4  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Reptile  
ATK/DEF: 1000/2000

Haos Ravenoid  
Level: 4  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Winged-Beast  
ATK/DEF: 1500/1200

Haos Saurus  
Level: 4  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Dinosaur  
ATK/DEF: 1700/1500

Haos Siege  
Level: 4  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Warrior  
ATK/DEF: 1900/1400

Haos Griffin  
Level: 5  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Beast  
ATK/DEF: 1800/2000

Haos Fear Ripper  
Level: 5  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Fiend  
ATK/DEF: 1750/1550

Haos Tuskor  
Level: 5  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Beast  
ATK/DEF: 2000/2000

Haos Laserman  
Level: 6  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Machine  
ATK/DEF: 2200/2000

Effect Monsters

Haos Centipoid  
Level: 2  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Insect/Effect  
ATK/DEF: 800/1000  
Effect: If this card is attacked and destroyed by an opponent's monster, destroy the monster that attacked this card.

Haos Robattalion  
Level: 2  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Machine/Effect  
ATK/DEF: 900/900  
Effect: During the Battle Phase of the turn you Normal summon this card, you can double its original ATK until the end of the Battle Phase.

Haos El Condor  
Level: 3  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Spellcaster/Tuner  
ATK/DEF: 1300/1100  
Effect: When you Normal Summon this card successfully, change the level of one Monster on your side of the field to the desired level needed for tuning.

Haos Manion  
Level: 3  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Fiend/Effect  
ATK/DEF: 1350/1000  
Effect: If this card is targeted by a Spell or a Trap card, negate and destroy that card.

Haos Monarus  
Level: 3  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Fairy/Tuner  
ATK/DEF: 1000/1200  
Effect: When this card is successfully summoned, for every card in your opponent's hand, increase your Life Points by 500.

Haos Tentaclar  
Level: 3  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Fiend/Effect  
ATK/DEF: 1350/1550  
Effect: If targeted, once per turn, you can negate a monster's attack.

Turbo Booster  
Level: 1  
Attribute: Earth  
Type: Machine/Effect  
ATK/DEF: 0/0  
Effect: If you have Normal Summoned a monster this turn, you can Special Summon this card from your hand. You can Tribute this card to destroy 1 monster your opponent controls that battled one of your monsters this turn.

Synchro Monsters

Haos Blade Tigrerra  
Level: 5  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Beast/Synchro/Effect  
ATK/DEF: 2000/2000  
Effect: 1 Tuner + 1 or more Non-Tuner Monster (s)  
On the turn this card is successfully summoned, switch the ATK of this card with one of your opponent's monster's ATK until the End Phase.

Haos Contestir  
Level: 5  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Warrior/Synchro/Effect  
ATK/DEF: 2200/1800  
Effect: 1 Tuner + 1 or more Non-Tuner Monster (s)  
When this card is successfully summoned, you can discard one card from your hand to halve one monster's ATK points on your opponent's side of the field until the end of the turn. The targeted monster cannot be destroyed when this card effect activates.

Haos Aranaut  
Level: 6  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Warrior/Synchro  
ATK/DEF: 2000/2000  
Effect: 1 Tuner Monster + 1 or More Non-Tuner Monster

Haos Ancient Nemus  
Level: 6  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Fairy/Synchro/Effect  
ATK/DEF: 2400/2000  
Effect: 1 Tuner Monster + 1 or More Non-Tuner Monster  
Once per turn, you can Special Summon 1 LIGHT Monster from your Graveyard in Attack or Defense Position.

Haos Lars Lion  
Level: 7  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Warrior/Synchro/Effect  
ATK/DEF: 2500/2000  
Effect: 1 Tuner Monster + 1 or More Non-Tuner Monster  
When this card is successfully summoned, increase the ATK of all Monsters on your side of the field by Omega Leonidas

Haos Lumagrowl  
Level: 7  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Beast/Synchro/Effect  
ATK/DEF: 2700/2350  
Effect: 1 Tuner + 1 or more Non-Tuner Monster (s)

Level: 8  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Dragon/Synchro/Effect  
ATK/DEF: 3000/2500  
Effect: 1 Tuner Monster + 1 or More Non-Tuner Monster  
Once per turn, you can choose 1 LIGHT Monster from your Graveyard and this card receives half of the original ATK points of the chosen monster until the end of the Battle Phase.

Haos Savior Leonidas  
Level: 10  
Attribute: Light  
Type: Dragon/Synchro/Effect  
ATK/DEF: 4000/3000  
Effect: Savior Dragon + Haos Omega Leonidas + 1 Non-Tuner Monster  
You can Tribute this card to negate the activation of an opponent's Spell Card, Trap Card, or Effect Monster's effect and destroy all cards your opponent controls. Once per turn, remove up to 5 LIGHT attribute Monsters from your Graveyard. This card receives ATK points equal to all Monsters that were removed from play by this card's effect. During the End Phase, return this card from the field tp the Extra Deck, and Special Summon 1 "Haos Omega Leonidas" from your Graveyard.

Spells and Speed Spell Cards

Haos Reactor  
Type: Field  
Effect: When a LIGHT Monster is summoned; increase that Monster's ATK by 500.

Darkus and Haos Correlation  
Type: Normal  
Effect: Activate only if there is a LIGHT and DARK Monster on the field. Subtract the DARK Monster's ATK by 1000 and add it to the LIGHT Monster's ATK.

Attribute Change  
Type: Normal  
Effect: Select 1 Monster and change that Monster (s) attribute.  
X2

Rapid Haos  
Type: Quick-Play  
Effect: You can Special Summon 1 LIGHT Monster from your hand or deck as long as you have a LIGHT Monster on the field.

Triple Node- Pyrus, Aquos, Haos  
Type: Normal  
Effect: Activate only if there is a FIRE, WATER, and LIGHT Monster (s) on the field. Increase the ATK of those Monsters by 2000.

Name: Spartablaster  
Type: Equip-spell  
Effect: This card can only be equipped to Haos Contestir. A monster equipped with this card gains 400 ATK.

Name: Barias Gear  
Type: Equip-spell  
Effect: This card can only be equipped to Haos Lumagrowl. A monster equipped with this card gains 300 ATK. When a monster equipped with this card attacks a defense position monster, inflict the difference as damage to your opponent's life points.

Those are the Monsters and Spell Cards I made up as cards and will be using. The rest are real and you can look it up on the Yu-Gi-Oh Wikia.

Double Summon  
Lightwave Tuning  
Pot of Greed  
Monster Reborn  
Natural Tune  
Demotion  
Synchro Boost x2  
Card of Sanctity  
Card of Demise  
Spellbook Inside the Pot

Speed Spells

Angel Baton  
Speed Jammer x2  
Wheelie Breaker  
Dash Pilfer  
Sonic Buster  
Speed Energy  
Half Size  
Count Up  
Gap Storm  
Summon Speeder

Trap Cards

Synchro Material  
Mirror Force  
Defense Draw  
Miracle's Wake  
Destruction Jammer  
Bottomless Trap Hole  
Divine Wrath  
Synchro Blast  
Synchro Prominence  
Synchro Stream  
Negate Attack  
Slip Stream  
Nutrient Z  
Reduction Barrier


	34. Chapter 31: Gathering of the Signers

And here we go ladies and gentlemen! Another chapter of Stardust Accelerator: Rise of the Earthbounds! Oh, and just so you know, I'm not dealing with the Crow/lazar duel in this chapter. There will be dueling, the next chapter, so look forward to that.

Disclaimer: You know the drill.

Chapter 31: Gathering of the Signers

At the Sector Security headquarters, Kurogasa, after getting new clothes which were still the same by the way, Yusei, Akiza, and Mina were watching a series of videos on a computer screen, each displaying a different person using psychic abilities in a variety of ways. The four looked on as a brown-haired boy played a Hinotama Spell Card, the resulting fireball incinerating a target dummy before he collapsed, screaming in pain as a surge of electricity ran through him. Akiza looked away, uncomfortable. "We found these video clips and other important records in the Arcadia Movement yesterday." Mina explained. "There were details recorded concerning the children abducted by the Movement, and the live testing conducted in their facility."

"He was kidnapping children for this?" Kurogasa growled under his breath. "Guy's a complete monster..."

'_Abducted children?'_ Akiza thought. _'Live testing?'_ She remembered Misty accusing her. _'Was Misty's brother one of them…?'_

Mina sighed. "The Public Security Maintenance Bureau conducted an investigation into the Arcadia Movement, but these records will be powerful supporting evidence. Sayer picked those with heightened abilities and formulated a plan to refine their abilities for use outside dueling. Then he planned to send them into war-torn regions as soldiers, to fight his war against the rest of humanity for the discrimination Psychic Duelists suffered. Akiza… you were one of them…" She showed Akiza the list on a holographic pad and sure enough, she was on it. Akiza gave a gasp of horror, turning and running out. "You can turn your eyes and cover your ears!" Mina shouted after the Signer. "But it won't change the truth! Sayer was only trying to use you for your powers!" Then Akiza was gone.

'_But then again, she still may care about him...'_ Kurogasa thought as he ran after Akiza. The Haos Duelist found Akiza standing in an empty room staring out a huge window looking at the city. Her face had an expression that she just couldn't believe it. Kurogasa walked up to her. "Akiza…" Kurogasa murmured.

"All this time, I thought he actually cared about me." she murmured with her head down and her eyes closed with sorrow. "Sayer accepted me; he gave me a home when I had nowhere to go. His existence was invaluable to me…"

"All that caring he did was for the wrong reasons Akiza. He played on your feelings. He took all your sorrow, your sadness, your pain, and tried to turn that all into rage and hatred so you could do his bidding."

"Still..."

"But I understand." Kurogasa said, making Akiza turn to him in surprise. "It's fine. I'm not going to reject you; I have no right to deny anyone. The one thing I'm sure of is that there are people who trust you, and who need you right now."

"Kurogasa..." As she spoke, he pulled back his sleeve to bare the Body Mark of the Dragon. "We're friends Akiza. I care about you. He said softly. "Psychic duelist, Signer... or neither..."

"Friends." she agreed, laying a hand over her own Mark. She then gasped when the Haos Duelist made a daring move of wrapping his arms around her, embracing her. She was surprised of what he just did, but then she returned the hug, feeling safe.

Soon, all of the Signers got in a limousine and after about half an hour, they arrived at Goodwin's island. Everyone got out of the limousine and was at the entrance of Goodwin's mansion.

"Wow. This place is huge. So this is where Goodwin lives?" Leo asked. Just then, the doors of the mansion opened to reveal Goodwin walking towards them.

"I have been expecting you." Goodwin said and stopped in front of the group as soon as he was outside the door. "Welcome Signers, one and all. I've waited a long time for this moment. It is with great honor to welcome you to my home." He bowed.

"Hmph. You're shady to the core." Jack scoffed.

"Kurogasa, why are we here anyway?" Akiza whispered. "Didn't Goodwin capture your friends and forced you to enter the Fortune Cup? And you're going to trust him?"

"Well, technically, I entered the Fortune Cup on my own free will so I can help Yusei. And like I said before, Goodwin is family friend of mine. Although, I can't forgive him for taking my friends hostage like that just so he can gather the Signers, I never forgot everything he did for me after my parents died. I owe him that much. Right now, the world is on the verge of destruction and even though I know a little about the Crimson Dragon legend, there are some other things that Goodwin only knows. Even I'm kept in the dark."

"So you risked accepting his invite to drag it out of him, right?"

"Pretty much. And it's probably the only thing we can do right now."

"So tell us, what do you want with us?" Leo asked as Goodwin looked down on him.

"I don't remember inviting you." Leo was kinda shocked.

"Oh c'mon. Don't be so strict." Leo said waving it off.

"I have no business with anyone that is not a Signer. I request that you kindly leave." Leo was kinda sad at that, but that's when Luna grabbed Leo's arm.

"I won't go unless I'm with Leo. Signer or not, he's my brother." Luna said.

"Luna…" Goodwin looked at the Twins for a while, but then sighed.

"I guess there's no way to avoid it."

"Thank you." Luna thanked.

"Very well then. Let's all go inside. This way." Goodwin said leading them into the mansion. The Signers including Leo went inside. They continued to walk until they got to an elevator that goes below the mansion. Then they walked on a stone-walled hallway with torches lined up on the wall lighting their way.

"Where are we going?" Luna asked.

"To a very special place that has all the answer to your questions." Goodwin said referring to Jack as the King.

"I was left with more questions than answers." Jack said.

"Hmph. Good to see you haven't lost your sense of humor even though you lost your title Jack." Goodwin chuckled. They continued to walk until they got to the two stone doors that opened up for them. They went inside and the door closed behind them. And suddenly the floor glowed with the large full seal of the Crimson Dragon on the floor surrounding the tall Incan temple not to mention that the ceiling was filled with stars. Everyone but Goodwin, Jack, and Kurogasa were amazed at this.

"Wh-what is this?" Yusei asked.

"The Stairway of the Crimson Dragon. We saw a vision of that same temple during the Fortune Cup remember?" Kurogasa asked.

"That's right. We saw that people with those people bowing before the temple and those ancient Signers were on top of the temple." Yusei said now remembering it. That vision was first seen before the vision of the destruction of Satellite by the Mark of the Spider. They continued to look until they saw a structure of sort in front of the temple that also bears the full seal. "That shape." He noticed.

"It's the same birthmark that was on Kurogasa's back when he dueled Akiza." Luna noticed.

"The Crimson Dragon." Akiza said. Goodwin turned to them.

"You are correct. That is the symbol of the Signers that have been passed down as the Legend of the People of the Stars." Goodwin said. All of the birthmarks on the Signers arms glowed and they looked at them.

"Luna, everyone else's too." Leo said. The full seal on the floor glowed brighter and then the Crimson Dragon appeared with a ringing cry.

"The Crimson Dragon…" Yusei muttered out. He then remembered something in his memories. "That day, when Jack and I turbo dueled at the empty stadium with our prides at stake, the Crimson Dragon appeared."

"Yeah, I remember that." Jack said.

"Yes, back then, you were both guided by the Crimson Dragon."

"You're saying that we're somehow the Crimson Dragon is controlling all of us?" Yusei asked.

"We were settling the score between us! The Crimson Dragon had nothing to do with it!" Jack argued. "And another thing. No one tells me what to do, this is my life. I'm in the driver seat."

"So you think that all of it was just a mere coincidence? Leaving the satellite, finding Yusei, and meeting the others?" Goodwin asked rhetorically. "In your hearts, you each know that you are destined for something bigger than a normal life. That's the dragon's spirit guiding you."

"You expect us to believe that?" Yusei asked.

"Whether you believe it or not is your choice." He said with his head down and his eyes closed. "But as long as you remain Signers, you cannot escape from this fate." Raising his head back up and opening his eyes. "Never."

"The fate of Signers?" Akiza asked as she looked at her own Mark remembering all the terrible things she did in her life before meeting the others. "I always thought I was a monster, a witch. What kind of hero am I supposed to be? I've hurt everything I cared about. My family, school, even Sayer."

"I sense your doubt Akiza, but it was that very power that brought you to us. And without it, none of you would've met, correct?"

"Especially me Akiza." Kurogasa said making Akiza turn to him. "If I haven't met you, your anger and hatred would've probably gone to the point that I couldn't even save you." Kurogasa said.

"I… guess…" Akiza said averting her eyes from him still feeling a little doubtful.

"It's okay Akiza. All of that is behind you now for good. So there's no reason to doubt yourself." Kurogasa reassured her. That caused her to look back at him.

"Kurogasa…"

"The Crimson Dragon has chosen not despite of who you are, but because of it. Each of you fills a unique need in the mosaic of the Crimson Dragon's dueling strategy, including the smallest one of all." Goodwin said turning his attention to Luna. "This applies to you Luna." Luna looked at her own Mark as he remembered something from her memories.

"When I was little…" Luna began. "I can communicate with Duel Monster spirits in a world unlike ours. And who I met there was Ancient Fairy Dragon. I didn't think of it at the time, about if there was any reason behind that strange meeting back then, but now I know that saving Ancient Fairy Dragon is my fate. If I don't save her, then the Spirit World and the duel monster spirits there would be destroyed. She chose me to help save it."

"You see? You all have gifts. You were chosen as the reincarnations of the legendary Signers. Whether you like it or not, it was promised thousands of years ago that you would all encounter as so, while at the mercy of destiny."

"But hold on, what about Kurogasa? He has a Mark like no one else has." Leo said.

"Yeah. There's the Head, Wings, Claws, and Tail, and there's yours Kurogasa. I've never seen it before. And I saw that other Mark, the one shaped like a diamond before it changed to your curvy one." Jack remembered. "What's up with that?"

"That's right. I never told you guys about that." Kurogasa said looking at his own Mark. "As you guys know, my parents died in a car crash ten years ago and Goodwin took me in. Ten years after, he tried to find another way to revive the Crimson Dragon other than gathering the real ones. So I volunteered to help him. Using the technology he had, he engraved a fake Crimson Dragon birthmark on me."

"A fake birthmark?" Leo asked.

"Yes. After that, the machine used to engrave it on my arm, exploded and knocked me back so hard, that I hit my head hard as well."

"And because of that, you got amnesia." Yusei said.

"Yeah. While I had amnesia at the time, I panicked so much, not knowing where I was. I found a prototype duel runner of sort and got out of the mansion. Security chased after me. We turbo dueled; I won, and managed to get away. I got through the Pipeline, and then soon after, I crashed on the runner as soon as I got to the Satellite. I kept walking around the Satellite until I collapsed. And then…"

"You met Rally." Yusei realized finally putting it all together. Kurogasa nodded.

"You should know the rest from there. A week before the Fortune Cup started, after I dueled Jack, I came over to Goodwin's mansion to here. He had four clones of me all ready to duel me."

"Clones of you?" Akiza asked.

"Yes. Before Goodwin engraved the fake mark on me, he took a sample of my blood, and then, he created four clones of me using that sample of blood and he also engraved the fake birthmarks on them. He told me that by dueling these four clones and defeating them, the Crimson Dragon would awaken due to the intensity of the duels. Eventually, I beat all of four of them and the Crimson Dragon did appear for a few moments, but then…"

"It failed didn't it." Jack finished.

"Yes. It did. It seems that by doing so, the Crimson Dragon must've thought of doing such a thing, as an insult, and thus it failed. My impatience has gotten to me at the time. By the time I realized it, it was too late. I personally take responsibility for that." Goodwin said.

"I still thought I failed you at the time." Kurogasa said softly.

"You are not to blame Kurogasa. I did everything for you ever since your parents died and you only wanted to repay me. That burden is mine alone to bear."

"You still haven't answered how you got the new one." Jack said.

"I'll explain. How he got it is by his selflessness and care he had for his fellow Signer Akiza and his determination of helping her to come to our side. It was because of that, the Crimson Dragon has seen Kurogasa worthy of having a Mark of his own. Thus the creation of his new mark, the Body of the Crimson Dragon." Goodwin explained.

"The Body of the Crimson dragon huh?" Jack said.

The Crimson Dragon gave a ringing cry before disappearing. And then the Marks stopped glowing too.

"The glowing stopped." Yusei said.

"Hold on, but where's the one with the Head Mark though, despite the initial being five?" Leo asked.

"Leo's right. Where's the Signer with the Head Mark?" Luna asked.

"I promise you the fifth Signer is ready to join our fight. For safety reasons, I'm forced to keep their identity secret. But when you find yourselves in real trouble, they will most likely appear, along with the Crimson Dragon." Goodwin said. Everyone gasped at this.

"What do you mean?" Yusei asked.

"You'll find out soon enough." Goodwin answered. Then he raised his hand and a bright light appeared. Everyone covered their eyes and when the light faded, they opened their eyes and saw that the scenery was completely changed. They saw the Nazca Plains, which showed a familiar sight to Kurogasa.

"The Nazca Lines." Kurogasa mused.

"That's right. You and Yusei have heard the story, but for those of you hearing this for the first time, five thousand years ago, the army of shadows arose in Peru, seeking to destroy the culture of the People of the Stars, but the People prayed to their god, the Dragon Star. It sent salvation in the form of the Crimson Dragon and the Five Dragons that served it, emblazoning the power of these dragons upon the original Signers. Those Signers unleashed the dragons and defeated the shadows, sealing them into what we now know as the Nazca Lines. But recently…" The Mark of the Spider glowed purple and disappeared. "…there has been a bizarre phenomenon involving the geoglyphs suddenly disappearing off the Nazca Plains. How this happened was that a long time ago, there was a team in the city working on developing an energy source known as Enerdy, designed to be the epitome in energy generation. Simply put, it powers itself, using the energy produced from its rotation to power that rotation. However, the initial system was flawed, and those flaws were fatal... they came together and forced the reactor into a reverse spin. This created negative energy in place of positive... the negative energy unleashed created natural disasters of incredible power, tearing apart Old and New Domino City. That negative energy acted as a key, unlocking the prison of the army of Shadows with the help of the Dark Signers."

"Dark Signers…" Yusei mused.

"Yeah. The damage is real similar like Akiza's psychic powers, but different; they put some sort of force field of purple fire when they challenge you. No one can get out until the duel is over. During that, you'll be in for a world of hurt, and if you lose, well… use your imagination. From what Yusei and I experienced, it's not pretty."

"Same goes for me." Jack said.

"What? You fought a Dark Signer?" Yusei and Kurogasa asked surprised.

"Not exactly. It was Trudge that I dueled, and somehow it looked look like he was possessed or something. He had a Spider Mark on his arm. When I won the duel, his mark disappeared and those Dark tuner and Dark synchro monsters were gone too."

"Same thing with us." Yusei said.

"If our dueling is based on the power of life, then the Dark Signers' is based on the powers of the Netherworld."

"The powers of the Netherworld?" Kurogasa asked.

"Yes. As you are aware, whenever a Dark Signer appears, a geoglyph will surely follow."

"Yeah. Kurogasa and I saw with my own eyes. When Kalin summoned that Earthbound Immortal during our duel. I saw a slew of people become their victims in Satellite." Yusei said remembering his duel and seeing the people's soul taken so it can be summoned. "As your so-called 'sacrifices'!" Leo and Luna were starting to get scared.

"It's safe to say that their actions have already exceeded my calculations. The geoglyphs also appeared in the city, as well, and produced many casualties." Goodwin said as the scene changed to what happened last night.

"That's…" Kurogasa said with eyes widened.

"The event you saw in the Satellite also occurred in the city. Because of those events, hundreds of people that were in their vicinity… are currently unaccounted for." Then they saw the Lizard and Hummingbird Earthbound Immortals that attacked the arcadia Movement.

"Those must've been the Immortals that attacked the Arcadia Movement." Kurogasa said.

"Yes, the Earthbound Immortals are the Dark Signers' Gods, who are summoned by sacrificing people."

"What become of the people sacrificed?" Jack asked angrily.

"I myself don't know." Goodwin replied. Jack clutched his fist in anger. He remembers when he found Carly's broken glasses. "If we stand idly by, then all of the residents of the city and Satellite will fall in the clutches of the Dark Signers and soon New Domino City will soon follow. This was an unavoidable battle from the start. The Signers and Dark Signers are, in a world of light and dark. The only ones who can defeat the Dark Signers and save the world are you Signers."

'_Can I really do that? Can I really save the people who thought of me as a monster? I think I can. I do owe it to my friends. Especially Kurogasa.'_ Akiza thought.

"I've heard enough!" Jack said out of the blue snapping out his thoughts.

"Jack…" Yusei said.

"Just let me go after these Signers myself! I'll take them all on!" Jack declared.

"Don't even think about it Jack." Kurogasa said. "We need all the help we can get and there's no way that a one-man army like you Jack is gonna beat the Dark signers. We're all part of this war! We're in this together whether you like it or not!"

"Kurogasa is right. You can't fight the shadows alone. You all have to work together if you're going to beat the Dark Signers." Goodwin said.

"Goodwin, there's one thing I have to ask you." Yusei said.

"What is it?"

"There's this friend of mine, Kalin Kessler, he was once our friend, but now he's a Dark Signer with horrifying powers. His One Hundred Eye Dragon was powerful, but that was just the beginning. When I saw those people being sacrificed so he could summon that Earthbound Immortal, I could hardly believe my eyes. And I had to believe it. That Kalin had acquired a tremendous power. So how did Kalin become a Dark Signer?"

Goodwin turned around to his side and hung his head down with his eyes closed. "It's best if you did not know."

"What? What are you talking about? Yusei and I are going to be having a life-or-death duel with a man we once called our friend!" Jack said.

"I'm prepared to risk my life to protect the city and Satellite. But, if there's a way to return Kalin and the others back to normal…" Yusei began.

"There isn't." Goodwin suddenly said looking at them. Yusei gasped. "There is no way to return people turned into Dark Signers back to their former selves."

"What do you mean?" Kurogasa asked angrily.

"Dark Signers are the souls of the dead who have awakened to their abilities. In other words, they are no longer of this world." Everyone gasped at this.

"What did you say?" Jack asked.

"Not of this… world?" Akiza added.

"That's not possible." Kurogasa said in disbelief.

"W-what does t-that mean?" Leo asked.

"You can't mean-" Luna said.

"Kalin is already dead…" Yusei said.

"Dead people can't come back to life!" Jack protested.

"Yes, they can. That unbelievable phenomenon on the other side of the doorway of the Netherworld… even the Dark Synchro Monsters' level becoming negative is proof that they are messengers of the Netherworld."

"You said that there is no way to return people turned into Dark Signers back to their former selves… The Dark Signers are the souls of the dead that are no longer of this world… If so, then are you're saying their souls are already damned from the start?" Kurogasa asked angrily. Everyone but he and Goodwin gasped at this. They haven't even thought of that. Goodwin couldn't answer that question. Instead, he faces the Signers.

"Whether you defeat the Dark Signers or the world, along with us, perishes… That decision is in your hands. Think hard on what it is you should do and give me your answer. But do it quickly, because time is running out." And with that, Goodwin walked past the Signers as the scenery changes back to the starry sky with the Incan temple with the large full seal of the Crimson Dragon on the ground. The doors opened and once Goodwin walks out, the doors closes, leaving the Signers in the room.

Later on that day, Yusei was sitting on a bench taking in all of what's happened. But he was especially taking in what Kurogasa asked Goodwin.

"_You said that there is no way to return people turned into Dark Signers back to their former selves… The Dark Signers are the souls of the dead that are no longer of this world… If so, then are you saying their souls are already damned from the start?"_

'_If what Kurogasa asked is true, can I _really _beat the Dark Signers?'_ Yusei thought. _'Kalin…' _Just then, footsteps could be heard and he saw Jack in front of him.

"What's up with you?" Jack asked. "You look out of the blue."

"Nothing. Just thinking. Thinking about what Kurogasa said."

"Oh yeah. That one was a shocker." Jack replied.

"If what Kurogasa said was true, then I don't know what to do."

"We don't have a choice Yusei. We _have _to beat the Dark Signers."

"I know but…"

"But nothing Yusei! I heard from Kurogasa that he knocked some sense into you. Have you forgotten what he told you? Have you forgotten what you decided?"

"Of course I didn't!"

"Then do it! Even if it's true that Kalin's soul is damned from the start, at least he'll know the truth." Jack said. And it was true. If he could just tell Kalin what really happened that day, at least he'll know the truth and it will lift the heavy burden he and Kalin both carried for so long.

"I guess you're right…" Yusei said.

"Guess? I know." Jack added.

Further into the grounds, Akiza walked into a garden full of rose plants, gently running her hand across the fragile flowers as she breathed in their beautiful scent.

"Luna told me you were out here..." A voice called. She turned around to see Kurogasa walk up to her.

"What's up?" Akiza asked.

"Nothing. Just wanna know what you're up to."

"Isn't it obvious? I'm looking at the flowers." She giggled. "I feel like I just want to stay here forever."

"Yeah… So, did you talk to your parents about the Dark Signers?" He replied. She nodded as her mind wandered and remembered their conversation…

Flashback

_She was stood with her parents in the hospital room a short while after her duel with Kurogasa..._

"_Akiza!" her mother exclaimed in shock._

"_I'm sorry Mom." Akiza replied. "I've made up my mind… I want to fight the Dark Signers as a Signer. This is my destiny. Besides, if I don't help Kurogasa and the others then we'll all be in danger."_

"_She's right..." Hideo murmured._

"_Why do you have to do something so dangerous?" her mother asked with worry. "We just got back to being a family." _

"_There will be plenty of that after I beat the bad guys. I was so happy when you accepted me without once turning back…" the Rear Claw Signer murmured. "That's why I believe I can't turn away, either. This is my duty. I owe to everybody to all that I pushed away."_

"_Duty?" her mother repeated._

"_The Arcadia Movement was trying to lead the world into chaos, and I was one of their members." Akiza explained._

"_It wasn't your fault!" her mother protested. "You were just being used!"_

"_As true as that may be, I don't think I can just let things be." Akiza replied. "A disaster's about to hit in New Domino City, and should my powers serve a purpose to everyone else…"_

"_What if you still don't know how to control your powers?" Hideo asked. "You might end up destroying yourself… you know that, don't you?"_

"_I'll be alright." she replied. "I have Kurogasa with me. So don't worry about me."_

"_You're trying to discover what you consider to be wholeheartedly believable." Hideo concluded, and Akiza nodded. "If Kurogasa's going to be at your side, you'll never lose sight of yourself."_

"_Akiza…" her mother sighed._

"_Akiza's found what she must truly do Setsuko." Hideo assured her. She sighed. "Have faith in our daughter…"_

End Flashback

Akiza stared up at the sky, after her recollection and sighed. "I'm happy that they're worried about me..."

"It's alright for them to worry." Kurogasa stated. "I wish I were in your shoes right about now... you got a family around that cares..." He just trailed off there.

She suddenly remembered what he said during the Fortune Cup and lowered her head. "Sorry... I forgot..."

"It's alright. Don't worry about it..." He waved off. "I'm just happy to see you with yours... and like I said, I got your back when we face the Dark Signers…" Akiza smiled at that.

"Thank you." She was suddenly pulled into another embrace by Kurogasa which she gasped at.

"I'll always protect you. No matter what." Kurogasa murmured.

"I know." Akiza said as she returned the embrace.

Meanwhile, Leo was in some sort of restaurant like room with all the buffet food on the side and he was helping himself… to a lot of food. He was stacking all of it on one plate. And his twin sister Luna came in.

"Leo! What are you doing?" Luna asked.

"What does it look like? I'm eating." Leo said.

"This is no time to eat! Didn't you even have the slightest care of what Goodwin just said?"

"Nope! Cuz' I'm not a Signer." Leo said not having a care in the world as he puts his stacked plate on the table.

"C'mon Leo, get serious! We can't afford to take it easy like you are! While everyone's freaking out, you're just going to be eating like a pig?"

"Pretty much!" Leo said with his carefree attitude.

"I can't believe you!"

"I'm gonna go to rooftop pool after this. You should come. There's a volleyball net."

"A volleyball net? This trip to the Satellite Sector is not gonna be easy! You should be _preparing_, not playing games!" Luna said angrily as she started storming out of the room.

"I'm not going with you." Leo said now all serious.

"Huh?" Luna asked stopping dead in her tracks and turning around to her brother. "What do you mean you're not going? Don't you wanna come?"

"Why _should_ I? I'm not a Signer."

"Leo! You're not seriously thinking about not coming with me to Satellite are you?" Leo then turned to her sister.

"I always get carried away you know? That's why when people around me say, 'You gotta be the hero and protect your sister,' even I start feeling that way. I'm just a comic relief. I'm a clown. When I lost to that Sayer guy, I just… don't have it in me." He said with his head down.

"Leo…" He then turned around with his back facing her.

"I never told you this before, but I always thought you were holding me back Luna. You were always sick and I had to look out for you. I couldn't duel with the other kids and get better. I blamed you for that Luna." He murmured.

"I know." Luna said sadly.

"Huh?"

"I knew I held you back. And that you resented me for that. I wanted to apologize to you for that one day. I'm really sorry."

"No, don't apologize!" Leo protested. "I get it now."

"Huh?" Luna asked confused.

"You're awesome Luna! You're a Signer and the reincarnation of an ancient warrior! You're not like me!" Luna's eyes widened. "I guess _I'm_ the one that's holding you back." Leo smiled sadly. "If I went, I'd just get in the way. So I'll cheer from the sidelines shouting like a dork! Hooray! Go Luna! Show those Dark Signers how to duel! You got it! Yeah!" Leo said doing a cheer.

"You idiot…" Luna sobbed. Leo looked at her and saw that she was crying. "This is why I need you to go to the Satellite with me! I'm scared Leo! I don't know what to do without you!"

"Luna…"

"I don't care if you shout on the sidelines like a dork! I don't care if you're a Signer! You're my brother…" She sobbed as he suddenly hugged her brother. "I can't do this without you Leo…"

Meanwhile Jack and Yusei were sitting on a small hill.

"Hey Jack."

"What?"

"Thanks to yours and Kurogasa's words, my eyes have been opened. In order to protect my friends and beat my Dark Signers, I can't have any doubt. Even though his soul is damned, at least he'll know the truth."

"Exactly." Jack then reached into his inside pocket and looks at Carly's broken glasses. _'Carly, wherever you are, I'll find you.'_

"It looks like you're all ready to go." A voice said. Yusei and Jack looked up to see Akiza and Kurogasa.

"Akiza. Kurogasa." Yusei recognized.

"I'm ready to fight with you guys." Akiza said.

"Good. What about you Kurogasa?"

"Same here. I can't wait to beat those Dark Signers' asses." Kurogasa said eager.

"Yusei!" Another voice said. The four turned to see Luna running towards them.

"Hey Luna." Yusei greeted.

"You're coming right?"

"You bet."

"Kurogasa?"

"Yep. Anytime."

"What about Leo?" Akiza asked. Luna turned to see her brother walking. At first he was hesitant, but then ran towards the group and met with them.

"Hey guys! Are you ready for this? I can't wait to see you take down those Dark Signers! It's gonna be awesome! You're like the best!" Leo said.

"Thanks."

"And you're awesome too Jack, even though you're not the best anymore." Leo said.

"Just because I lost, doesn't mean I'm the best." Jack argued.

"Don't worry; I'll still look up to you."

"Listen you, I'll always be the best, you understand me?"

"Okay, but technically you're not because Yusei is the best."

"Technically nothing you worm, I'm still the best."

"You lost the championship, so that makes you number two."

"So what does that make me?" Kurogasa asked crossing his arms.

"Well… wait, I change my mind. Kurogasa is number two because of his Savior Leonidas."

"Now hold on. I thought I was number two." Jack protested.

"You're third now."

"Heh heh. Hear that Jack? You're third. As in third-rate!" Kurogasa chuckled.

"Say that again! I dare you!" Jack snapped balling up his fist. Everyone, but Jack laughed.

The day went by really quickly and as the sun sets over the city horizon Kurogasa, Akiza, and Yusei were watching it from the balcony.

"Nice sunset." Kurogasa commented.

"Yeah. I wonder if 5000 years ago, the sunset was as vivid like this." Akiza wondered.

"Probably. But, the future is uncertain. We must protect this world." Yusei said.

"Yes, you're right." Akiza agreed.

"No arguments there." Kurogasa agreed as well.

Leo and Luna were watching the sunset too from inside the mansion looking out the window and they were in awe as well. Jack was lying down on the rooftop and was looking at Carly's broken glasses. _'Carly, I'm going to find you.'_

"Mr. Atlas." A voice called. Jack looked up to see Mina coming up the ladder. "I figured you'd be up here."

"What's wrong?" Jack asked, but she ignored his question when she saw Carly's glasses. "Hey, I said what's wrong?" he asked again making Mina snap out of her thoughts. "Oh, something terrible has happened in Satellite!"

"What?" Jack asked.

Soon, everyone was at the Sector Security HQ and what they saw on the big screen was a large dome of black clouds that engulfed most of Satellite. It also showed images of the Satellite but with no people there.

"Is that Satellite?" Luna asked.

"It turned into a ghost town or something." Leo added.

"What happened to all the people?" Akiza asked.

"It must be the Dark Signers doing this." Yusei deduced.

"Yeah. But what exactly happened?" Kurogasa asked.

"That's what I like to know." Jack answered.

"I'm trying to get in contact with Sector Security there, but they're not responding. It looks like there's some kind of abnormality occurring in the deepest regions of the Satellite."

"You mean near the Old Enerdy reactor?" Kurogasa asked.

"Most likely. At this rate, we could lose our video feed any second." And just like that, the video feed was lost and it was nothing but static.

"Well, no use of standing here any longer, we gotta fly to Satellite now! Mina, can you get us a helicopter ready?" Kurogasa asked.

"Yes. I can do that." Mina said as she dialed a few buttons on her phone to make the call.

'_Rally… Crow… everyone…'_ Yusei thought.

That night, which was really early in the morning, the Signers including Leo, Mina, and Goodwin were at the helipad waiting for the chopper to arrive.

"Well, this is it." Luna said.

"Uh-huh." Leo replied.

"Mr. Atlas?" Mina asked.

"Yeah?"

"Why are you going to Satellite?"

"Isn't that obvious? I have something I must do."

'_As a Signer? Or is it…'_ Mina thought remembering seeing Carly's glasses.

"Let's stay on task. Your mission is to get to the Old Enerdy reactor deep within the Satellite." Goodwin said.

"The Old Enerdy reactor?" Akiza asked.

"What's it do?" Leo asked.

"It's the source of the negative energy that caused that dark smoke to appear. And in a twist of fate, it was built by Yusei's father." Goodwin said. Everyone but Jack had their eyes wide.

"And _when_ were you going to tell us this?" Kurogasa asked.

"Wait a minute, you mean _our_ Yusei?" Akiza asked.

"Seriously?" Luna added.

"Really?" Leo said.

"Yes. And now this is his opportunity to heal the mistakes of the past. Your mission is to defeat the Dark Signers and find the Old Reactor. If possible, activate the reactor in reverse, so hopefully, it could surge positive energy and imprison the army of shadows again." Goodwin said as a helicopter began to descend on the helipad. "I've arranged special transportation to the Satellite and I'm sure you know who the pilot is." As soon as the chopper landed, the pilot came out of the chopper. Kurogasa groaned at who it was.

"Great, Trudge again?" He groaned to himself.

"Ready as ordered sir. We're fully fueled and ready to go!" Trudge saluted.

"Excellent." Goodwin said.

"Hope you packed some peanuts." Yusei smirked jokingly.

"You again?" Trudge roared. "I have to fly you?" He then he turned to Kurogasa. "And you _too_? Goodwin, what is it with you and these guys anyway? First you want them in jail, then you want them out, and now they're riding first class to the Satellite? Well, you can-"

"Good to see you Officer Trudge." Mina interrupted him coming up to him. Trudge's anger suddenly disappeared.

"Oh, uh, good to see you too Mina. Did you get the flowers I sent you?"

"Of course I did. You should know that I'm flying with you too."

"You are?" Trudge asked blushing.

"Ohhhhh, looks like someone has a crush on Mina." Kurogasa snickered.

"Oh shut up!" Trudge snapped at Kurogasa.

"So you _do_?" Kurogasa smiled impishly.

"No! I mean - I - uh - wha - ga -!"

"What's he talking about?" Mina asked blankly.

"Nothing." Trudge said finally.

'_Hehehehehehehe. I'm gonna enjoy this trip.'_ Kurogasa snickered in his mind.

"Well, let's get going." Mina said.

"I can't believe I'm flying economy." Jack mumbled as the group started to walk away until Yusei stopped to look at Goodwin.

"Wait a minute." Yusei said.

"What's wrong Yusei?" Leo asked.

"Yeah, what's up? We gotta get going." Kurogasa said.

"Goodwin? I need you to promise me something."

"What is it Yusei?" Goodwin asked.

"Once all of this is done, when the Dark Signers are defeated and everything goes back to normal, promise me that you will finish the Daedalus Bridge and connect the City and Satellite." Everyone just looked at him.

"Do you intend to emulate the legendary man who fought to build that bridge?"

"If your story is true, then there should be no more reason to discriminate Satellite." Goodwin looked at him for a while.

"Very well. I promise you." Goodwin said. As the sun rose, Yusei and group then turned towards the helicopter and went inside. The helicopter lifted off the helipad and went towards the helicopter. _'Good luck Signers. The fate of the world rests in your hands.'_

Inside the helicopter, Yusei, Leo, Luna, and Mina sat on one side of the chopper while Jack, Kurogasa, and Akiza sat on the other side.

"Hey, well wishes, starboard side." Trudge said. They looked out at the window to see Dexter, Yanagi, and Tanner at the port waving goodbye.

"Leo! Luna!" Dexter cried.

"Good luck you guys!" Yanagi cheered.

"Dexter!" Leo called.

"Yanagi! Tanner! We'll be back soon you guys!" Luna called as well.

"You'll do great!" Dexter cheered.

"We're all counting on you!" Yanagi added.

"Don't worry; we'll keep the Jacuzzi warm!" Tanner added as well.

"Thanks!" Leo called back.

"We'll see you guys later!" Luna said in the same tone.

As Yusei sat there, he clenched his fist. _'We have to win this battle… for everyone's sakes.'_

Okay, got it done! So go ahead and review! I promise you there will be a duel next chapter.


	35. Chapter 32: Caught in the Spider's Web

And here it is people! Another chapter of Stardust Accelerator: Rise of the Earthbounds!

Disclaimer: Same thing.

Chapter 32: Caught in the Spider's Web

Several minutes have passed since the Signers departed from New Domino City heading towards Satellite. Thunder roared and lightning flashed as they flew across the sky. Yusei was pondering in thought of what his dad did when he created the first Enerdy reactor. "Mina, you seem to be in the know about the Old Reactor. What's it about?" Akiza asked starting a conversation.

"They called the incident Zero Reverse. It happened seventeen years ago when the tectonic shift separated Satellite from New Domino City. The Old Enerdy reactor, located in present-day the Satellite's deepest regions, went out of control. The supervisor of the Enerdy Development Section M.I.D.S was Yusei's father." Mina explained.

"You mean, Yusei's father was in that incident? What happened to him?" Leo asked.

"What do you think happened Leo? Stop being so dense." Luna scolded.

"Wait a minute. Why would the father of some Satellite reject be in charge of such an important project?" Trudge asked confused.

"Yusei and his dad are originally born in New Domino City." Jack answered.

"Me too. My parents and I are born from New Domino City and my parents are family friends with Goodwin." Kurogasa added.

"So are you saying you two Satellite rejects aren't actually Satellite rejects?" Trudge asked the two Satellites incredulously.

"I was born in the Satellite. Got a problem with that?" Jack shot back.

"Uh… no of course not." Trudge said focusing his attention back on flying.

"That's right, turn around." It was silent for a few more seconds.

"Ugh. This lightning isn't good. One strike and we're toast. I think we should turn this bird around." Trudge suggested.

"Our main objective is to get to Satellite!" Mina said in an official like stern voice.

'_She's kinda cute when she talks like that.'_ Trudge thought. Then Yusei puts a hand on his shoulder and pointed at something.

"Set us down near that building in the park." Yusei said.

"Wha?"

"Do as he says." Mina ordered.

Meanwhile, Martha, along with her kids, Rally, Blitz, Nervin, Tank, and Blister all saw a helicopter coming down near their house.

"A Sector Security helicopter?" Rally asked.

"What's that doing coming over here?" Nervin added.

"Don't know, but we're gonna find out soon enough." Blitz said as helicopter landing on the ground. The chopper opened up and revealed the Signers and Leo, Mina, and Trudge coming out too.

"It's Yusei and Kurogasa!" Tank exclaimed.

"And Jack!" Martha said as she ran up to him as the group in the helicopter got off. Rally and group were kinda surprised to see him too. "Oh, look at you Jackie boy!" Martha smiled.

"Hi Martha…" Jack mumbled.

"Look at you; I can't believe how big you've gotten."

"Well, it… has been a while, since I left you know."

"Do that thing you used to do, that adorable prince routine." Martha said holding out her hand. Jack bugged out at this. Yusei chuckled and Kurogasa raised an eyebrow at this. Jack was hesitant at first, but then knelt down on one knee.

"Greetings, most fairest of maidens, may this prince kiss your hand?" Jack asked as he kissed Martha's hand and got back up quickly. Everyone was just staring at him.

"Oh, you've been such a good boy Jack." Martha laughed giving Jack a tight bear hug.

"Martha… I can't… breathe…" Jack managed to get out.

"Welcome back Yusei!" One kid greeted.

"Wow. I thought the people in Satellite are all sad and depressed." Leo said.

"I know. These people are actually friendly." Luna added.

"Hey Kurogasa! What's going on?" Rally asked coming up to him along with the others.

"Doing great! How's my runner doing? In good shape?" Kurogasa asked.

"Yeah, in fact, we made a couple of upgrades to your runner." Nervin said.

"Really?" Kurogasa asked.

"Yep. It took all of our money, but we managed to get the parts we needed." Tank said.

"I'll go get it." Blitz said as he ran to get Kurogasa's runner. A couple minutes later, Blitz pushed it over to where Kurogasa was. The Haos duelist was kinda surprised at what they did to his runner. What they did was add the latest version of the Turbo Jet. He also noticed that the paint job was somewhat altered. It was still the same, silver with gold edges, and normally, the gold Haos symbol was on both sides of the runner at the end, but with the latest version of the Turbo Jet added, the Haos symbol was now on the outside part of the pair of Turbo Jets. (AN: This is based on my duel runner from the WC 2011 DS game. Check out the list of duel runner parts on Yu-Gi-Oh! Wikia so you know what I'm talking about.)

"Pretty cool huh?" Rally asked.

"Yeah, I'm actually impressed." Kurogasa said as he continued to inspect his modified runner.

"Oh yeah, we also sold all of the chips in order to get the latest Master Chip. It's the Accelerator, Turbo, Balancer, Quick, and Rapid chips all in one, so you don't need all of those."

"Wow. I can't believe you went through all that. Thanks!"

"No prob. What are friends for?" Tank asked.

"Oh, thanks for reminding me Tank. Speaking of friends…" Kurogasa said turning towards Jack who was now not being hugged by Martha. "I think there's a friend that you guys to make peace with." Jack noticed Rally and the others. They stared at each other for a while. Jack was a hesitant about going to them. Then Kurogasa went up to Jack and pulled him by the ear.

"Ow! H-Hey, what are you doing Kurogasa?" Jack demanded.

"What's it look like I'm doing? I'm dragging you over to Rally and the others because you owe these guys an apology Jack. I heard from Yusei about what happened two years ago when you became a jackass back then." Kurogasa said as he finally got Jack to Rally and company and Kurogasa let go of Jack's ear leaving Jack to rub it. "So go on."

"Alright already." Jack said annoyed as he regained his composure and turned towards the group. Blitz, Nervin, and Tank all had their eyes narrowed at him and Rally just had a stoic look on his face. There was silence between them a while longer before Jack spoke up. "Alright, listen..." Jack declared to the group. "I know you're all angry at me for what I've done the past 2 years..."

"You got that right, pal!" Nervin shouted.

"You never should've done that!" Blitz snapped.

"But as of right now, Jack Atlas is sticking by his friends..." the ex-turbo champ replied. "And..."

"And?" Tank pried.

"I'm sorry, alright..." Jack caved in. "I wanted out so bad, and for what... fans that only cheer for you when you win... instead of friends that cared no matter the outcome..." Again, there was more silence, and then Rally spoke up.

"Just don't do that again okay?" Rally asked.

"Yeah…" Jack mumbled. Although his face didn't show it, he felt better about it.

"Good. Now that you guys are all on good terms, Rally, Blitz, Nervin, Tank, there's some people I would like for you to meet." Kurogasa said leading them to his New Domino City friends. The Twins and Akiza were introduced to Rally, Blitz, Nervin, and Tank and vice-versa. Rally even blushed a little bit seeing how cute Luna looked which made Leo go into 'protective brother' mode a little bit and Kurogasa and his Satellite friends teased Rally about it which made him blush madly. Trudge and Blister met again too. Although Trudge wasn't happy to see him and wanted to arrest Blister for what happened back at Security Impound Center, he let it slide only because he's following Goodwin's orders. Soon everyone was back into the house and the Signers, including Leo, Trudge, Mina, Rally, and company, Martha, were there.

"So what's happening out here Martha? Things have been real quiet lately." Yusei noticed.

"That's because this black fog came." Martha said.

"What happened?" Kurogasa asked.

"I don't know. Weird things have been happening lately. While we were getting parts for your runner Kurogasa, this black fog came out of nowhere." Blitz explained.

"Yeah, it was covering up the whole downtown area of Satellite." Nervin said.

"Not to mention, we were running for our lives when black fog was chasing us. The people that were caught in the fog just disappeared in thin air just like that." Tank said.

"We're lucky that we managed to get here just in time. Not to mention that we're lucky that the black fog didn't reach here." Rally said.

"We haven't even heard from Crow since then." Blister said grimly.

"Seriously?" Yusei asked in disbelief.

"I'm worried of what's become of him." Martha said worriedly. Everyone there just sat there in silence until Kurogasa broke it.

"Don't worry Martha, he's a tough guy. There's no way that fog can get to him anyways." Kurogasa assured her.

"I hope your right." Martha replied. She then noticed Akiza. "Hold on, you must be that Senator's daughter, Akiza."

"Yep. That's right, guilty as charged." Akiza smiled.

"Kurogasa was telling me all about you. You know Kurogasa, once all of this is over, you should out ask her out on a date." She teased. This caused Kurogasa and Akiza to blush, with Kurogasa blushing like mad.

"HUH?" Kurogasa asked shocked.

"I'm just saying, if you two have some sort of connection…" Martha still teased making Kurogasa fully blush bright cherry red.

"I'm here to save the world, not date!"

"You face says otherwise Kurogasa." Rally grinned impishly which everyone but Jack laugh, which wasn't helping Kurogasa at all, so the Haos duelist gave a rather hard Gibbs slap on the back of Rally's head. "OW! What was that for? I was just kidding!"

"Just shut up…" Kurogasa grumbled still blushing.

"I'm just messing with you Kurogasa. Relax." Martha laughed. She then turned to Yusei with a serious look on her face. "And what about you Yusei? How are you doing?"

"Doing alright. Kurogasa and Jack knocked some sense into me and now I'm not afraid of dueling Kalin anymore. Sure, his Earthbound Immortal and his Dark Signer powers still kinda scare me, but as for me doubting if I could fight Kalin again because we used to be friends, I'm not worried. After all, my real friends are right here. Kalin made his choice a long time ago."

"Look at you, acting more like a man. Well, that settles it. If you're going to save the world, then you need to eat, you can't save the world on an empty stomach." Martha said.

"I'll help. I can whip something really good for you guys in no time flat." Kurogasa offered.

"Thank you Kurogasa." Martha thanked.

Evening came and Martha and Kurogasa went straight to cooking. A couple hours later, the two cooks finished cooking. For tonight's dinner Martha and Kurogasa whipped up beef stew made with chopped pieces of beef, carrots, celery, baby golden potatoes, and beef stock. For side dishes, there were rolls of bread and cups of water for drinks. Everyone and I do mean everyone was at the dining table. There wasn't much room at the table to sit at, so Yusei and Jack brought some extra tables from various parts of the house, mainly desks from bedrooms. Soon everyone started eating and everyone was enjoying the stew they were having.

"Wow. This beef stew is awesome!" One kid said.

"Yeah. Kurogasa whipped it up for us!" Another said. All the kids looked at Kurogasa.

"Thanks Kurogasa! This stew is great!" All of Martha's and Crow's kids thanked.

"Ah, it's nothing really." Kurogasa said embarrassed scratching the back of his head. As everyone continued to eat, Yusei spoke up talking to the children.

"You know, if we win this battle against the Dark Signers, the Daedalus Bridge will be built connecting the Satellite and New Domino City." This caused Rally to spit out his water he was drinking from.

"Wha? Seriously?" Rally asked surprised.

"Yep. I had Goodwin promise me that once we win this battle, he'll build the bridge. There will be no discrimination after that. Your futures are certain to change. An age where you can be, who you want to be, will come."

"Awesome!" Rally cheered.

"Do you really think he'll do that though?" Nervin asked.

"Stop being so pessimistic." Tank said. "If he promised he'll build the bridge, he'll build it."

"I hope so." Blitz said. Just then a lightning bolt struck near the house causing the glass from the windows to shatter which made Martha's and Crow's kids scared by screaming.

"What was that?" Yusei wondered.

"Everyone okay?" Martha asked.

"Kids, get away from the glass." Kurogasa said. Martha's and Crow's kids did as they were told. They could hear the sound of a man laughing. Yusei and Kurogasa looked to see who it was. He was shrouded by the night, but a lightning struck behind him showing the hooded figure. His clothes had red markings all over. When he unveiled himself, he had a somewhat similar appearance to Rex Goodwin. He eyes were black as well as has markings on his face as well.

"Who are you?" Yusei demanded.

"My name is Roman. I'm the Dark Signer that possesses the Mark of the Spider." He introduced showing his mark. Yusei and Kurogasa gasped at seeing it. _'The Spider Birthmark? Could that vision become reality?'_

"I heard that five Signers were here, so I thought I should say hello. The welcoming party, of course, is a duel.

"So you're the real Signer with that mark huh?" Kurogasa asked.

"Yes. And I take it that you're the new Signer with the Mark of the Crimson Dragon's Body."

"What? How did you know about my Mark?" Kurogasa demanded.

"We Dark Signers sensed it. It was something that we never expected at all. This just makes more interesting. Now how about we ourselves a duel?"

"Bring it on!" Jack declared.

"No." Yusei said stopping Jack. "If we duel here, then everyone will get caught in the flaming geoglyph. Get everyone away from here. You're in charge of Martha and the kids." Jack was hesitant because he wanted to take on Roman too, but he did as Yusei said as everyone else went to the back of the house.

"Alright Roman, Me and my friend will go against you 2-on-1!" Kurogasa said.

"If you want a duel, you'll have to follow us." Yusei said.

"Fine." Roman said. Yusei and Kurogasa got to duel runners and dismounted their disks. Akiza followed Yusei and Kurogasa out.

"I'm coming with you guys." Akiza said. Yusei and Kurogasa nodded.

Back at the house…

"Hey you guys, you better hurry up." Trudge said to three boys. Those boys were Taka, John, and Mitch.

"Sure, we'll be there." Taka said as they saw the others going away. When they were far away enough… "Alright guys, we're going too. That Dark Signer is a bad guy. He probably kidnapped Crow, so let's deal with him."

"Yeah." John and Mitch agreed.

Meanwhile…

Out in an abandoned street, Yusei, Kurogasa and Roman prepared to duel, while Akiza stands with Yusei and Kurogasa.

"Well then, it's time to begin." Roman said activating his Dark Signer duel disk. Yusei activates his and Kurogasa activated his Angel Wing duel disk. All duelists participating drew their starting hand.

"DUEL!"

**Roman: **4000

**Yusei/Kurogasa: **4000

The purple flames surround the premises forming the spider shape.

"It's too small to be the one from our vision." Akiza noticed. Roman's, Yusei's, and Kurogasa's marks all glowed along with Akiza's mark.

Back at house…

"It's begun." Jack said seeing that his Wings mark glowed.

"Yusei… Kurogasa…" Luna said seeing her Front Claw mark glowed. Martha then guided party into a room.

"Alright, everyone in here." Martha said. Two young girls then noticed that something was missing.

"Taka isn't here." One girl said.

"So are John and Mitch." Another girl said.

"What, now?" Martha said shocked. Martha and Jack dash outside and spotted the spider mark in the sky. "Ah? That's-" Martha began, but there was no time for that and Martha suddenly ran to look for the boys dashing to its direction.

"Martha! Come back!" Jack called.

"Don't worry, I'm on it." Trudge said as he went after Martha.

Back to the duel…

"Ore no sentou! Doro!" Kurogasa declared and drew his sixth card. "I summon my Haos Juggernoid in defense mode!" A white and yellow reptilian like turtle appeared (4) (ATK: 1000/DEF: 2000). "Try to get through that Roman!"

"Watashi no ta-n! Doro!" Roman said drawing his sixth card. "I activate the field spell, Spider Web." Roman declared placing his card in the field spell zone. The area is now surrounded by one huge spider web on the ground.

"What is this field?" Yusei wondered.

"I special summon my Dark Tuner Spider Cocoon. If my opponent control a monster and I don't, I can special summon it to the field." Roman explained as a spider with eight legs with a spider cocoon as its abdomen appeared (5) (ATK: 0/DEF: 0). "Next I normal summon my Dark Spider in attack mode!" Roman said summoning a spider with a tall green abdomen (1) (ATK: 0/DEF: 0).

"With my Dark Spider on the field, once per turn, I can increase an Insect type monster's level by 2 until the End Phase, so now I level up my Spider Cocoon's level by 2.

Dark Tuner Spider Cocoon's level: 7

"Now I dark tune my level 1 Dark Spider with my level 7 Spider Cocoon!" Roman said as the Spider Cocoon turned into 7 stars. The stars went inside Dark Spider, turning into an orange outline of itself revealing the one star in itself. Two of the stars paired into one and disappeared leaving the remaining six. The orange outline of Dark Spider disappeared; the remaining six stars turned black and circled around each other.

"_Yami to yami kasanarishitoki, meifu no tobira ha hirakareru! Hikarinaki sekai he! Daaku Shinkuro! Ideyo, Chitei no Arakunē!"_ (1)

A column of dark light descended on the ground for a few seconds. When it dispersed. A huge spider with a woman attached on top appeared (-6) (ATK: 2400/DEF: 1200).

"Great. A Dark Synchro Monster…" Kurogasa growled.

"I activate Underground Arachnid's effect! Once per turn, I can turn one monster on my opponent's fields into an equip card on Underground Arachnid! Twiner Thread!" The spider spat web out of its mouth and wrapped the reptilian turtle around and then got it over to Roman's side of the field.

"Oh crap! We're wide open!" Kurogasa said gritting his teeth.

"Exactly. Now I'll have Underground Arachnid attack you directly!" Roman said. The woman then spat web out of her mouth and hit Kurogasa in the stomach. Kurogasa flew back and fell to the ground.

**Roman:** 4000

**Yusei/Kurogasa:** 1600

"Kurogasa!" Akiza cried.

"You okay?" Yusei asked. Kurogasa struggled getting back up.

"I'm… fine."

"I'll place one facedown and end my turn." Roman finished placing a reverse card on the field.

"Ore no ta-n!" Yusei declared and drew his sixth card. "I summon Road Synchron in attack mode!" A tanish-yellow robot with black rollers as its legs appeared (4) (ATK: 1600/DEF: 800). "Next I activate the spell card, One for One! By discarding a monster from my hand to the graveyard, I can special summon a level one monster from my hand! I special summon Tuningware!" He discarded a monster card from his hand and the small robot with the frying pan on its head appeared (1) (ATK: 100/DEF: 300). "I discarded Quillbolt Hedgehog thanks to One for One and since there's a tuner monster on the field, I can special summon Quillbolt Hedgehog from the graveyard!" The orange hedgehog with bolts of nails sticking out of its back appeared (2) (ATK: 800/DEF: 800).

"That's a total of seven." Akiza mused.

"Now I activate Tuningware's effect! If I use it for a synchro summon, I can treat it as a level 2 monster.

Tuningware's level: 2

"That makes it eight." Akiza said.

"Now I tune my now level two Tuningware, level 2 Quillbolt Hedgehog, with my level 4 Road Synchron!" Yusei said as Road Synchron turned into four green rings while Tuningware and Quillbolt Hedgehog turned into two stars combining into four. The stars lined up in the tunnel of rings.

"_Tsudoishi kibo ga aratana chihei izanau! Hikari sasu michi to nare! Shinkuro Shokan! Kakenukero, Rōdo Woriā!"_ (2)

A beam of light shot out of the rings and a warrior in tan armor with sharp claws and a black device on its back appeared (8) (ATK: 3000/DEF: 1500).

"3000 attack points is more than enough to take out Underground Arachnid." Akiza smiled.

"Also, due to Tuningware's effect, if it's used for a synchro summon, I can draw a card!" Yusei said and drew an additional card. "Road Warrior, attack Underground Arachnid! Lightning Claw!" Yusei ordered. The tan armored warrior charged at the spider-like centaur with its hand enveloped by lightning as it collided with the spider-like centaur creature. Roman braved it out as lightning was getting to Roman as well and then…

BOOM!

**Roman:** 3400

**Yusei/Kurogasa:** 1600

"That did it!" Akiza said. But when the dust cleared, Underground Arachnid was still around and the tied up Juggernoid was used as protection before it was destroyed into pixels.

"What the-" Kurogasa said shocked.

"Underground Arachnid can negate destruction by using the equipped monster as a shield. Now Spider Web's effect activates. It automatically switches the monster that battled to defense mode and prevents it from changing modes until the next turn." Roman explained as the web from the field spell wrapped Road Warrior's limbs forcing it into defense mode. "So when it comes my turn, I can take control of your monster and you would be wide open, and once I attack you directly, you'll be dancing the dance of death." Roman said.

"Sorry, I'm a lousy dancer. I activate Road Warrior's effect! Once per turn, I can special summon a level or two monster from my deck! So I special summon my Turbo Booster!" Yusei declared as Road Warrior struggled to get its black device off of its back. It shot a light out that looked like a road and Turbo Booster came out (1) (ATK: 0/DEF: 0). "Now I activate Turbo Booster's effect! By releasing this card, I can destroy one monster that battled with mine during this turn! So I destroy your Underground Arachnid!" Yusei shouted as Turbo Booster released its boosters and destroyed the spider-like centaur into pixels.

"Nice work Yusei!" Kurogasa praised.

"You had that planned all along didn't you?" Akiza asked.

"Over there!" A voice called. Akiza turned around to see two kids coming up to them. It was John and Mitch! "Yusei! Kurogasa!" John called. The two duelists turned around to see those kids.

"Oh no… this is bad!" Kurogasa groaned.

"What are those kids doing here?" Yusei asked surprised.

"No way! There are people that aren't Signers inside the flames!" Akiza gasped as well.

"I activate my trap! Altar of the Bound Deity! During each of my Standby Phases, for every monster in defense mode on the field, I can place 1 Earthbound Immortal Counter on this trap card. Once I have four counters I can send it to the Graveyard to special summon 1 monster with "Earthbound Immortal" in its name!" Roman explained as a tall pyramid like altar appeared behind him with 4 counters on top of it each waiting to be lit up.

"That's not good." Kurogasa growled.

"It seems we have some mice in our midst. In any case, the duel cannot be stopped. Until we see any outcome that is." Roman chuckled evilly.

"If those counters lit up, and Roman summons an Immortal, those kids soul will be-" Akiza began as she looked at the kids who are crying and scared for their lives.

"Then we'll just have to win this duel before that happens." Kurogasa finished.

"Yeah. We don't have any other choice." Yusei agreed. "I end my turn."

"Watashi no ta-n!" Roman drew. "Now Altar of the Bound Deity gains an Earthbound Immortal counter!" Roman said as one of the counters lit up in flames.

AotBD: 1 EIC

"Next, I summon Ground Spider in defense mode!" A brown spider with a small abdomen appeared (4) (ATK: 0/DEF: 1500). Next, I place a facedown card and end my turn."

"Not much of an attacker are ya? Doesn't matter; because we're gonna stop you from summoning that Earthbound Immortal! Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa shouted as he drew. _'Okay, so we got to make sure that those counters don't light up. It all depends on the number of monsters in defense mode. Right now, there are two. I could destroy Ground Spider, but that means my monster gets switched to defense mode due to Spider Web's effect.'_ Kurogasa said as he looked at his hand considering his options. _'Well, it may be not the best strategy, but at least it will stall Roman for a while.'_ "I'll squash that Ground Spider by summoning my Haos Saurus!" A white and yellow bipedal triceratops appeared (4) (ATK: 1700/DEF: 1500).

"I think not!" Roman interrupted. "I use Ground Spider's effect: once a turn, I can switch a monster you normal or special summoned to your field to defense mode." Ground Spider shot web out of its mouth and forced it down into defense mode while being tied up.

"It's a good thing that one is all you have, because now I use the power of Double Summon spell card to bring out Haos El Condor!" He activated his spell first and then he summoned his white yellow shaman with the large Aztec mask. (3) (ATK: 1300/DEF: 1100). And when he's normal summoned, I can switch Haos Saurus level to three, so that I can make a tuning!"

Haos Saurus's level: 3

"Now I tune my level 3 Saurus with Level 3 El Condor!" Kurogasa declared as El Condor turned into three rings and Saurus into 3 stars. The stars lined up in the tunnel of rings.

"_Ten no houshakou ha, kurayami no ue ni kagayaki, subete no eien no tame ni sore o fusshoku suru Shinkuro Shoukan! Migaki ni, Haos Ancient Nemus!"_

A beam of light shot out of the rings and the male angelic warrior with its golden circular staff appeared (6) (ATK: 2400/DEF: 2000). "Now I activate Nemus's special ability to revive Haos Saurus from the grave! Divine Light!" Nemus pointed his staff on the ground light shined from it and Saurus rose from the ground appearing in light before taking shape. "Now Saurus, squash that Ground Spider!" Kurogasa ordered. The bipedal ran over to the Ground Spider and did as it was told; squashed the Ground Spider.

"Now it's your turn Ancient Nemus, attack directly with Sparkly Arrow!" Kurogasa said next. Nemus raised his staff and swung it sending a wave of light energy at Roman which Roman braved out on while being enveloped in the light.

**Roman:** 1000

**Yusei/Kurogasa:** 1600

"Don't forget that after both of your monsters battle, they automatically go to defense mode due to my Spider Web field spell." Roman reminded him. Saurus and Nemus were both snared by web from the field spell switching them to defense mode.

"I haven't forgotten Roman. Now I'll play this, the spell card Monster Recovery! I send one monster on my field back to my deck, then my entire hand to my deck, shuffle, and draw the same number of cards I had in my hand. And I choose to bring Saurus back to the field. Saurus glowed yellow and went back into the card, and then Kurogasa puts Saurus and the two cards in his hand back to the deck. The duel disk shuffled the cards and then Kurogasa drew the same number of cards he had previously.

"Why did you do that?" Akiza asked.

"There were three monsters on the field. If I ended my turn now, and when it comes Roman's turn, he would've already had 4 Earthbound Immortal Counters, so by using Monster Recovery and sending Saurus back to my deck…"

"You just bought us more time." Yusei said getting Kurogasa's strategy.

"I get it." Akiza said making sense of Kurogasa's strategy.

"So what? You're only delaying the inevitable." Roman said.

"We'll see about that. I'll place a facedown and end my turn. Yusei, finish this up..." He concluded as he placed his reverse card on the field.

"I will; good job..."

Meanwhile, Martha and Trudge arrived at the scene near the flaming geoglyph as they continued to look for the boys that went missing.

"Where are the boys?" Martha asked worried.

"Let's go up that building. If we look from higher up, maybe we can spot them."  
Trudge suggested pointing to the nearest building. The two went up to a random floor. They looked out the window looking around and saw Kurogasa and Yusei dueling Roman with Akiza next to them. Trudge then noticed something below. "Look down there!" Trudge said pointing. They saw John and Mitch.

"There they are!" Martha cried.

"Martha! Trudge!" Akiza cried noticing them. "An Earthbound Immortal is about to be summoned! If that happens, they're souls will be sacrificed!"

"What?" Trudge roared.

"No way! Yusei! Kurogasa!" Martha called. The two duelists looked up to see Martha and Trudge at the abandoned building they're in. "Stop playing around and save those kids!"

"Don't worry, we got them!" Kurogasa assured her.

"Watashi no ta-n!" Roman drew.

AotBD: 3 EICs

"Too bad it was all for naught though! I activate Offerings to the Bound Deity! I pay half my life points to place two more Earthbound Immortal counters on Altar of the Bound Deity! But since there's only left to light up, even better!" Roman laughed.

AotBD: 4EICs

**Roman:** 500

**Yusei/Kurogasa:** 1600

"Oh no, he has enough!" Akiza cried.

"Now, I offer my trap card with its four counters!" Roman rejoiced as the altar implodes and blasts a purple beam into the sky. Inside the beam the Earthbound Immortal heart appears and begins to beat as it sucks up the black fog.

"Oh man, not again!" Kurogasa cried.

"What's with the black smoke?" Yusei demanded.

"That black fog contains the souls of the Satellite residents, which I'm now using to summon my Immortal!" Roman said as the black fog continue to get sucked up and while that was going on, John and Mitch started to turn into purple light.

"Oh no!" Akiza cried.

"Damn!" Kurogasa said gritting his teeth.

"John! Mitch!" Martha cried.

'_Is there nothing I can do? How can I let these kids down? It would take a miracle to save them now.' _Yusei thought bitterly. Just then out of nowhere, Jack Atlas arrived riding on his Wheel of Fortune duel runner!

"Did someone order a miracle?" Jack asked.

"Jack!" Yusei and Kurogasa said surprised.

"Jack! The children!" Martha cried.

"Not to worry! Jack Atlas never betrays the same kids who cheer him on!" Jack said. He ramps through the flames and makes his way over to the boys. He exits his Runner and puts his arms over the boys. His birthmark emits a bubble which protects the boys. "Got 'em!"

"Whew… Talk about cutting it close Jack." Kurogasa sighed heavily with relief.

"Thank goodness." Martha sighed.

"Had me worried there…" Trudge said with relief as well. Yusei and Kurogasa turned their attention back on the duel with Roman laughing.

"It makes no difference!" Roman laughed.

"_Ima koso Kourin seyo! Waga Kami, Jibakushin Uru!" _(3)

The pillar of purple light faded and the ground began to tremble. The sea of flames rose very high and then a huge spider with glowing red marks all over appeared (10) (ATK: 3000/DEF: 3000). Everyone gaped at the sight of the huge spider.

"It's huge!" Akiza cried.

"Oh snap, we're gonna need one big ass bug repellent to kill that bug!" Kurogasa said amazed.

Meanwhile, Leo, Luna, Mina, and Blister arrived at the scene watching the duel from a high building.

"Look at that!" Luna said pointing at the Earthbound Spider.

"That's… an Earthbound Immortal?" Leo asked frightfully.

"Yusei, Kurogasa, squash that bug so we can go home." Jack said.

"Yeah, yeah Jack. We got this." Kurogasa waved off.

"That's right. You can count on it." Yusei added.

"Heh. You shouldn't speak so easy. How are you going to crush my Immortal? Its effect stands tall above all else. Just like the Ultimate Energy, Enerdy." Roman chuckled.

"What are you talking about?" Yusei demanded.

"How amusing that the person dueling against me in a vie for five-thousand years supremacy is none other than Dr. Fudo's son." He chuckled even more.

"What? How do you know Yusei's dad?" Kurogasa asked.

"You know my old man?" Yusei asked.

"Seventeen years ago, I was in the Enerdy Development Section, M.I.D.S, spearheaded by your father, Dr. Fudo. As Dr. Fudo's assistant that is."

"You were what?" Yusei asked shocked.

"There was also another assistant. My younger brother, Rex Goodwin." Akiza and Yusei gasped at this and Kurogasa was shocked.

"WHAT? You're Goodwin's older brother?" Kurogasa shouted in disbelief.

"Yes. I'll tell you one more thing. It was later that Dr. Fudo declared that development on the original Enerdy reactor was to be halted. The Old Enerdy would often experience a negative rotation, which had the doctor worried that a serious incident could occur. But, the sponsors and New Domino City didn't stand for that and the development was handed over to me instead. And then, Zero Reverse happened."

"Wait a minute, so it was _you_ that set off Zero Reverse?" Kurogasa demanded. "And you intentionally did that? Did you even realize how many lives were lost in that incident?"

"Who knows?" Roman laughed. Jack and Yusei started fuming over this and Kurogasa was just as mad as well.

"Answer me! Why did you do that?" Yusei shouted. "What the hell went on between you, Goodwin, and my father?"

"I don't have time to answer that question, so let's continue with the duel! Earthbound Immortal Uru, attack them directly! Hell Thread!" Roman ordered. The Spider Immortal launched web from its mouth and was going for both of them.

"Not so fast Roman! I activate my facedown card, Negate Attack! This stops your attack and ends the Battle Phase immediately!" Kurogasa countered. A clear vortex appeared in front of both duelists and blacked the attack and the thread spread out and then it hit the building where Martha and Trudge were.

"I set one card facedown and end my turn." Roman finished.

While that was going on, the building Martha and Trudge were in started to shake and wobble and then the two heard something from the roof. It sounded like… kid.

"That voice… Taka!" Trudge called.

"He must be on the roof." Martha said as they both went up to the roof. Back at the ground Yusei and Kurogasa heard Taka and saw the building Martha and Trudge were in. The two were able to find Taka who was on the edge of the building holding on to dear life.

"Taka!" Trudge called.

"Martha! Officer Trudge!"

"I'm coming Taka!" Martha as he slowly made her way to Taka.

"Martha! Come back!" Trudge called.

"Martha!" Yusei called.

"Martha!" Jack called too.

"Martha!" Kurogasa called as well. Soon, Martha was able to reach to Taka.

"Sorry Martha, I just wanted to help everyone out…" Taka apologized.

"It's fine!" Martha assured him. Trudge reaches out his hand and helps Taka into the doorway, but Martha slipped and slide to the other end of the roof. She tries to climb back up, but slides down again.

"Martha!" Trudge called. She shakes her head and smiles realizing that she can't escape.

"C'mon, don't give up!"

"Trudge. Take good care of my kids. Look after them."

"No I won't do that. The kids need you Martha!" Trudge said. She then looked at Yusei and Jack and shouts, "You two have been such good boys. I know that you two will build the bridge between the city and Satellite!" And then… she slides down and falls off the edge of the building.

"MARTHA!" Everyone but Roman cried. Before hitting the ground, her body transfigures into a blob of light, which is sucked into the Earthbound Immortal. Words couldn't describe what just happened. Martha was gone. Yusei's pupils were the sizes of a pinpoint when seeing this unfold.

"MARTHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Yusei screamed to the heavens.

"Dammit!" Kurogasa cursed out loud falling on one knee and punched on the ground. Jack wasn't taking this all too good either after seeing what just happened. But now wasn't the time to mourn for Martha yet. "Yusei, Kurogasa, hurry up and finish off that Earthbound Immortal!" Jack shouted. Kurogasa slowly got back up. His eyes were filled rage and anger which was all pointed towards Roman.

"We know Jack. And we will." Kurogasa growled.

"Hahahaha! How unexpectedly delightful!" Roman laughed.

"How can you take joy in that you sick bastard! You're gonna pay for this!" Kurogasa growled.

"Unforgivable… I'll never forgive you!" Yusei shouted. "Ore no ta-n!" Yusei drew. "First, I use Road Warrior's effect and summon Speed Warrior!" Road Warrior took the black device off of its back and shot a beam out of it and from the beam came a warrior in grey armor wearing a gas mask. (2) (ATK: 900/DEF: 400). "Then, I use Advance Draw to release Road Warrior and draw two cards!" Road Warrior disappeared and Yusei drew two cards. "Now I summon Junk Synchron!" Yusei's signature tuner orange tuner monster appeared on the field as well (3) (ATK: 1300/DEF: 500) "And with his effect, I can bring back Turbo Booster back on the field from the graveyard. Rally's favorite card appeared as well. "But there's more to come, I sacrifice my Speed Warrior to special summon my Turret Warrior!" Speed Warrior disappeared and what replaced him was a golem-like creature with Turrets on its shoulders. (5) (ATK: 1200-2100/DEF: 2000).

"But he won't be around for long, because now I tune my level 5 Turret Warrior with my level 3 Junk Synchron!" Yusei declared as Junk Synchron pulled the cord turning into three green rings and Turret Warrior turned into five stars. The stars lined up in the tunnel of rings.

"_Tsudoishi negai ga, aratani kagayaku hoshi wo naru! Hikari sasu michi to nare! Shinkuro Shoukan! Hishouseyo, Sutadasuto Doragon!"_

A beam of light shot out of the rings and Yusei's ace dragon appeared on the field with stardust streaming out of its wings (8) (ATK: 2500/DEF: 2000). "And since I can't select your Earthbound Immortal as an attack target, I can attack you directly!" Roman gritted his teeth at this. "This is for Martha and for all the souls that were taken from the Immortals. Stardust Dragon, attack Roman with Cosmic Flare!" Yusei commanded. Stardust Dragon then shot out a beam of stardust and cosmic energy out of its mouth.

"I activate Spider Egg! This negates your attack and summons three Spider Tokens to my field in defense mode!" An egg appeared and blocked the attack. It was destroyed and then three small spider tokens appeared on the field. (1) (ATK: 0/DEF: 0).

"I place one card facedown and end my turn." Yusei growled.

"Yusei! Kurogasa! We're okay now!" Trudge said as he got a hold of Taka and managed to get him out of there safely. Yusei and Kurogasa nodded at this.

"Now all that's left is to defeat you!" Yusei said.

"Oh, is that so?" Roman asked as he glowed purple all of a sudden. Nobody could've prepared for they saw next. Everyone was shocked of who they now saw.

"Rally?" Kurogasa asked shocked.

"H-How is this possible!" Akiza asked in disbelief.

Roman's laugh could be heard as they saw him on top of the Spider Web field. "How ironic that yet another friend you must save was here."

"You sick twisted man!" Kurogasa yelled.

"Right now, that kid's will is freed. He can fight if he wants to fight and lose if he wants to lose, but surrendering is not an option in this duel. Now, kid, do as you wish!" Roman ordered.

"What do you mean?" Yusei asked.

"Yusei, Kurogasa, the loser of this duel disappears." Rally said.

"WHAT?" The duelists participating asked in disbelief.

Rally then proceeded to do his turn. "I draw!" Rally draws.

"Rally, stop this now!" Kurogasa said.

"Fight, kid! So you may survive!" Roman laughed.

Rally stood there for a while and then began his turn. "I use Uru's effect: I release a Spider Token to take control of one monster you control... Turbo Booster!" A spider Token disappeared and Uru used its web to take Turbo Booster. "Then, I summon Turbo Rocket!" A red machine with two rocket jets appeared. (2) (ATK: 0/DEF: 0). Yusei and Kurogasa didn't like where this is going.

"Stop this Rally! Attack me! Defeat me!" Yusei pleaded.

"I can't Yusei… Yusei… you're Satellite's only hope! That's why I…" Rally yelled.

"Rally!" Jack cried.

"Don't even think about it Rally!" Kurogasa protested.

"I tune my level One Shot Booster with my level 2 Turbo Rocket to synchro summon Turbo Cannon!" Rally said as the synchro summoning process began to happen. When it was finished, a white machine with two cannons appeared. (3) (ATK: 0/DEF: 0).

'_He couldn't be…'_ Akiza thought in horror.

"Damn it Rally, stop being an idiot and stop!" Kurogasa pleaded.

"Now, I use Turbo Cannon's effect: I can destroy one monster on the field and its controller takes half of that monster's attack as damage!"

"Rally!" Yusei and Kurogasa cried.

"I'm sorry… but this is the only way… I choose Earthbound Immortal Uru!"

"NOOOOOOOOO!" Kurogasa yelled.

"Final Shot!" Rally yelled. Turbo Cannon then shot its cannons at the Earthbound Spider destroying it in the process. Rally was blown back as his life points depleted.

**Rally (Roman):** 0

**Yusei/Kurogasa:** 1600

"Rally!" Yusei and Kurogasa cried running over to the fallen boy and Yusei knelt down and held him in his arms.

"Yusei… Kurogasa… protect… Satellite…" Rally murmured before turning black and fading into dust. That was it. Rally was gone. They couldn't believe it. Yusei could only do one thing.

"RALLYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!"

"Dammit!" Kurogasa cursed. The flames disappeared and the field disappeared too. Everyone else gathered to their location.

"Yusei! Kurogasa!" The group cried as they ran up to them.

"That was quite the interesting show." Roman said as the other Dark Signers showed up. Kalin, Misty, Devack, an unknown Dark Signer in orange markings and two other Dark Signers one male and one female dressed with white markings appeared. "But this is where the battle between Signer and Dark Signer comes to a breaking point."

"Each battle will be determined by the stars of fate." Devack said.

"Don't think you've conquered your fear of the Earthbound Immortals, Yusei! There should be plenty of fear still left. Fear towards me that is…" Kalin laughed.

"Yeah… I'm afraid…" Yusei began slowly getting back up and looked at them. "…afraid of my own rage over how much I want to beat you guys!"

The Signers and Dark Signers stared each other down for a while until Yusei spoke up. "I won't forgive for what you did! You're all going to pay!"

"Then there's one more thing I have to say." Devack said holding up a card which Luna instantly recognized.

"That's-" Luna began.

"That's correct, it's Ancient Fairy Dragon. If you wish to get your dragon back, you must come and fight me. I won't away from your challenge. And lastly, my name is Devack. I carry the Mark of the Monkey." He introduced revealing his Dark Signer mark. As this was happening, Misty looked at Akiza, Yusei looked at Kalin, and Kurogasa looked at the two Signers in white. But he had this strange feeling coming from them.

'_This feeling… I feel like I know them. But I don't know.'_ Kurogasa thought. "Who are you two?" Kurogasa asked pointing at the two Dark Signers in white markings.

"We both possess the Mark of the Dog." The male Dark Signer in white said revealing the mark. The female Dark Signer with white markings also revealed her Dog Mark.

'_Two Dark Signers with the same mark?'_ Kurogasa thought to himself confused.

"Everyone must go alone at this point. We'll meet again at the Four Stars of Destiny." Roman said as a grey mist started to hover over making visibility almost impossible. The Dark Signers turned around and left. The one in orange turned around and was starting to walk away, but Jack saw the face of that person with his eyes widening in shock.

'_No… that can't be…'_ Jack thought before she also disappeared in the mist.

"Hold it! We're settling things right now!" Yusei shouted going after them with Jack following.

"Yusei!" Akiza called. Yusei kept on running until he stopped.

"Dark Signers! Stop running and fight me!" Yusei demanded. But no one came. Only Roman's voice could be heard.

"What's the hurry Yusei Fudo? The times for our battles have already been decided." Roman laughed.

"I don't care what's been "decided"! Come out and fight me now!" Yusei yelled.

"Come to Four Stars of Destiny. Fate has already chosen what will happen using these seals." Roman said and with that, his voice was no longer heard.

"Wait! Come back and fight me! Duel me!"

Meanwhile, the Dark Signer in orange was walking until she heard a voice.

"Wait!" A voice called. The female Dark Signer turned around to see Jack running to her. "There's something I need to say to you!"

She starts to worry and tried to get away, but Jack manages to catch her hood and pull it back. Jack's eyes widened when he saw who it was. His suspicions and fears have come true. It was Carly.

"I knew it… Carly…" Jack said.

"Jack…" Carly whispered.

"How can this be? How come you're a Dark Signer?" Jack asked. She lifts back up her hood.

"If you want to know the truth, you need to find me… my beloved Jack…" She whispered before she turns away, shedding a small glitter of tears, and runs on.

"Carly…"

Everyone regrouped back at the house with the three boys they rescued in tow. Kurogasa told Blitz, Nervin, and Tank of what happened to Rally and they didn't take it too well either. While everyone else was in silence, the three boys were crying.

"I'm sorry… This is all my fault…" Taka sobbed. "Martha… risked her life to save me…"

"I see… Martha…" The doctor said.

"I'm sorry." Trudge said with regret falling to his knees. "I was there. This shouldn't have happened. I should've grabbed Martha's hand. Please forgive me."

"It's not your fault Officer Trudge." Mitch protested.

"If only we'd listened." Taka added.

"Yeah, it's our entire fault…" John sobbed. Jack had enough with the crying and banged on the table with his fist and looked at them.

"This is NO one's fault! So stop crying already!" Jack shouted.

"He's right. It's none of your faults. This was all the Dark Signers doing." Yusei said.

"Martha wasn't the only one that suffered this fate. Rally and everyone else in the Satellite were affected by this too." Kurogasa added. "The only way to free Martha, Rally, and the others is to defeat the Dark Signers." Everyone just looked at him.

"Wait, are you saying that Martha isn't actually dead?" The doctor asked.

"And Rally too?" Tank asked.

"Is that even possible?" Nervin asked.

"Yes."

"What makes you think this?" The doctor asked.

"There have been strange occurrences lately going on in the Satellite and in the City. The flaming geoglyphs, the black fog that covered the entire Satellite, and everyone that was caught in the black fog along with Martha and Rally are trapped in it. This is all the Dark Signers doing."

"So you're saying that if you beat the Dark Signers…" The doctor began.

"The reverse should happen. Everyone will come back."

"Is that true?" The boys asked.

"Yes." Kurogasa said kneeling down on one knee at their level. "And we _will_ beat the Dark Signers, so don't cry anymore okay?" He then turned towards the doctor who looked convinced. "We'll be leaving as soon as we're ready, so don't wait for us."

"Alright. It's all up to you everyone. Good luck." The doctor said.

"Thank you." The Haos duelist looked at the boys. "Now try to get some sleep okay?"

"Alright…" The boys said. The doctor then lead to boys to their rooms leaving everyone else back in the dining room.

"Is it true Kurogasa? That once we beat the Dark Signers, everyone will come back?" Jack asked. Kurogasa was silent for a while. His hair was covering his eyes. "Well, is it?"

"I… don't know…" Kurogasa murmured. Everyone was somewhat taken aback by this.

"WHAT?" Jack asked angrily.

"What do you mean by that?" Trudge demanded.

"It's just… what I want to believe will happen…" Kurogasa muttered. Jack and Blitz were now pissed at this.

"Damn you!" Jack cursed as he sat down on the chair and banged his fist on the table.

Blitz then grabbed Kurogasa by the lapels and slammed him to the wall. Nervin and Tank then tried to pry Blitz off of the Haos duelist. "Why would you give those kids those hopeless lies? They deserve better than that! This is Martha and Rally we're talking about here!" Blitz yelled.

"Blitz! Cut it out!" Nervin cried trying to pry Blitz off of Kurogasa.

"Yeah. C'mon Blitz, I know you don't like this, neither do we. Everyone does not like this. He's just trying to give us some hope." Tank said. Blitz then let go of Kurogasa.

"I believe him…" Akiza suddenly said and everyone turned to her. "I believe what Kurogasa said before is true. If we're going to win this, then we're gonna have to believe that we have the power to protect everyone else still here and bring everyone back that was lost.

"This, coming from someone who terrified a lot of people with anger management issues." Jack scoffed.

"Yeah. And you know what? No one believed I could change. No one believed except Kurogasa and he fought for me." Akiza stated. "So if he says that we have the power to bring everyone back, then I believe him. Everyone's futures are on the line regardless!"

"Akiza is probably right." Mina said. "One of the few things certain is that the Netherworld must be closed again."

"Right. We have to be certain about our own futures before we can save anyone else's'." Yusei added.

"I got a question. Roman said to meet them at the Four Stars of Destiny. What does he mean by that?" Blister asked.

"He was probably referring to the four control units for the Enerdy Reactor." Mina replied. "You see, as a failsafe the Reactor could only be activated if four control units on separate sites were also active, and those sites each needed a one-of-a-kind key… of course! The control units were code-named for Nazca Lines!"

"So each Dark Signer will guard the corresponding control unit…" Kurogasa murmured. "But there are four control units and six Dark Signers. Which Nazca Lines are the units code-named after?" Mina dug a map of Satellite out of a drawer and spread it out on the table, taking a pen and drawing four dots on the map, labeling each.

"Giant which is Ccapac Apu, Lizard which is Ccarayhua, Hummingbird which is Asilla Piscu, and the Monkey which is Cusillu." she answered. "The Reactor itself, Uru," she drew a fifth dot, "was code-named for the Spider."

"But what about the other two people that had the Dog Mark?" the Haos duelist murmured.

"What's so important about them?" Trudge asked.

"If they're Dark Signers as well, they have to have control unit..." Luna stated.

"Unless they plan to double team us at one of the locations." Jack said. "Mina, you said these control units needed special keys. Where are the keys?" Mina smiled.

"In your Extra Decks." she explained. "The Signer Dragon cards are the keys for the control units." At this, Yusei, Jack and Akiza took out their dragon Synchro Monsters and stared at them. "The director released them to the public, and then used his influence to get them to each of you in preparation for this."

"Right, so we know where all but two of the Dark Signers will be. Are we all going to go together?"

"No. It would be a waste of time. We have to split up so the job can get done faster. If the Dark Signers want to fight the Crimson Dragon, there's no point in moving together." Jack pointed out.

"But we all just got together." Luna also pointed out.

"Don't worry; even if we split up, we're still friends." Yusei assured her.

"Well then, since you guys are gonna split up, who's going where?" Trudge asked.

"I'm dueling Kalin at the Giant Mark." Yusei said.

"Misty is my opponent." Akiza continued. "I'll head where the Lizard tower is located."

"I'll take you over there." Mina offered.

"I guess I have to face Devack… he's got Ancient Fairy Dragon's card." Luna said. "And that's the Monkey Tower."

"I'll go with you Luna." Leo said.

"Yeah, and I'll drive you guys over there." Trudge said.

"I'll take the Hummingbird." Jack said gruffly, staring down at Carly's broken glasses.

"I guess I'll ride around and look for the Dog Dark Signers, and then I'll face them myself." Kurogasa decided. "No sense in letting them double team one of you guys…"

"What if they try to strike you first?" Akiza asked all worried. He stared at her in silence for a moment.

"Then I'll make as much of a fight as I can." he said softly as he turned to Yusei and Jack. "You guys will notice something when my mark goes off, right?"

"If Jack and I can spare the little time we have, one of us can back you up." Yusei stated.

"Sounds like a plan." Nervin said.

"You guys better get going then." Tank said.

"Right." Kurogasa replied.

"Wait a minute!" Mina alarmed everyone as she made another mark that was relatively near the Monkey Control Unit which was fairly north of it. "I just remembered something. There's a backup generator near one of the control units. And it's marked with the Dog. Code-named Allqu. It was made so that if one or all of the control units stop working, the backup generator can start it up again. You can seal the generator using any synchro monster card."

"In that case, I can ride with the Twins and Trudge." Kurogasa stated. "Once Luna finishes, they'll be close by looking to keep their generator running."

"Looks like I'm stuck with taking care of the kids. Fine by me. Don't worry; I'll take care of them. And these bozos here…" Blister said referring to Blitz, Nervin, and Tank "…are gonna help me."

"Then it's settled. Let's get going." Yusei said as the Signers began to get out of the house.

"Yusei. Kurogasa." Blitz called. The two that was called turned to Blitz. "Promise me that you'll get Martha and Rally back."

"You bet we will." Kurogasa stated.

"And we'll make sure." Yusei added.

Several minutes later, Trudge and Mina's cars and Yusei, Kurogasa, and Jack's Duel Runners lined at the entrance of a long bridge with them facing the separate paths they have to take to get to their Dark Signer.

"Are you sure you guys are okay Leo and Luna?" Yusei asked. Luna nodded.

"Don't worry, I'm with her." Leo said.

"Don't forget me. As soon as I'm done with my Dark Signers, then I'll come get you." Kurogasa said to Luna, which she nodded as well.

"You own strength is what matters, now." Jack stated.

"Everyone, the Dark Signers won't be easy to defeat. We have some hard fights ahead of us. But what we can't forget is that our bonds as friends will connect us no matter how far away we may be from one another. Everyone will win and will meet up!" Yusei declared. Everyone nodded at this.

"Good luck to us all." Jack said.

"Yeah, let's go." Kurogasa said.

"Wait, hold on. There's something I need to tell you Kurogasa." Akiza murmured.

"What is it?" The Haos Duelist asked.

"Come here…" Kurogasa dismounted his runner and took off his helmet and went over to Akiza. What he didn't expect was Akiza grabbing his shoulders, leaned close to him, and to everyone else's surprise, pressed her lips upon Kurogasa's. The Haos duelist didn't expect this, not to mention caught off guard, but he gave in to it as he returned the kiss and deepened it. They broke apart after a few seconds.

"Akiza…" Kurogasa breathed.

"Don't die Kurogasa…" Akiza murmured as she looked at him with very tender eyes. Kurogasa gently smiled.

"I won't…" He said placing on her cheek.

"Er-hem." Jack cleared his throat getting the attention of the two. "C'mon, we have to go." The former King said. Kurogasa then got on his runner and puts on his helmet.

"Alright everyone, win and come back alive!" Yusei said as he started his runner sped off on one path. Jack started his runner and went off to another path. Mina started her jeep and she and Akiza went to their path. And finally, Trudge and Kurogasa started their engines and they along with the Twins went on their path.

Kurogasa and the Twins along with Trudge continued on their path for a long time until they came across a fork in the road. "Hey guys, look! A fork in the road!" Leo noticed. Kurogasa and Trudge stopped their vehicles.

"Which way do we go?" Luna wondered. Just then lightning struck across the sky until and what noticed was that on the left side of the path, the Mark of Dog could be seen in the sky far away. On the right, was the Mark of the Monkey that showed across the sky. Kurogasa could tell that the Dog Mark in the sky was farther than the Monkey Mark seeing that it was farther north.

"I guess this is where we part ways. My Dark Signer is farther up north." Kurogasa said turning to the Twins and Trudge. "Trudge, look after the Twins alright? I'll be back to help them as soon as I'm done with my Dark Signer."

"Right." Trudge said.

"Luna, go beat that Dark Signer alright?"

"You got it!" Luna nodded smiling.

"Leo, make sure you stay near Luna no matter where she goes. If need be, protect her."

"No worries!" Leo said giving him the thumbs up. Then they took their separate paths as well. Kurogasa continued to drive on his path towards the backup generator where he will face the two Dark Signers with the Mark of the Dog. After a long time, he arrived at his destination. The backup generator was a rather large dark cube about two stories high with the white markings of the Dog Nazca Line all over it.

"So this is the backup generator huh?" Kurogasa said as he dismounted his runner and took off his helmet. "Alright. Dark Signers! Where are you? Come out and face me!" Kurogasa called out. Nobody was coming for a while, until they the sounds of a duel runner. From atop a slab of rock, were two hooded figures that appeared. One was the male Dark Signer with white markings on his clothes and was on the duel runner which was an Alpha Frame which was black with purple edges and the other was the female Dark Signer with white markings on her clothes and she was on the side car. With a roar, the male gunned the engine and the rock slab exploded beneath him as he crashed down before Kurogasa and landed on the ground. Both of the Dark Signers arms glowed with the Mark of the Dog Nazca Line.

"So, you are the Signer we both must defeat?" The male Dark Signer asked.

The Haos duelist shook off the shock from the explosion and faced the two Dark Signers. "That's right. I'm here to stop both of you!"

"Very well then... Prepare to be sent to the Netherworld!" The female Dark Signer declared. "The King of the Netherworld demands it!"

"Not a chance!" The Haos duelist stated. "I don't care if it's one Dark Signer or 10, I'll defeat you all and save the world!"

The male Dark Signer chuckled. "You have some spirit... I can't wait to rip it from your body..."

"Tell us Signer, what is the name of the opponent we will defeat?" the female Dark Signer smirked.

"You two won't win! My name is Kurogasa Kururugi, and I will defeat you!" The Haos duelist declared. The Dark Signers were shocked for some reason. They both looked at each other and then looked back at Kurogasa.

"What… did you say your name was?" The male Dark Signer asked.

"Kurogasa Kururugi." Both of them gasped and they looked at each other again and then back at Kurogasa again. It can't be. Is it really you?" The male Dark Signer asked.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Kurogasa asked confused.

"It is him. It's been too long Kurogasa. Ten years too long. I can't believe that you've grown so much." The female Dark Signer said. This made Kurogasa gasp for some reason.

_'Ten years? What does she mean by that?'_ The Haos duelist thought. "Who are you?" He demanded.

"Kurogasa, don't you recognize us? It's us." The female Dark Signer said and both of them removed their hoods. At that point, Kurogasa gasped heavily with his heart literally skipping two beats. His eyes really widened and the pupils in his eyes went smaller and were quivering with shock and surprise. His whole body was shaking with shock. The male Dark Signer looked like an older version of himself and the female Dark Signer had long brown hair down to her shoulders. Both eyes are black, but the pupils are blue, and they each have a small triangle mark on the corner of one of their eyes like Carly.

"No... It can't be...! MOM? DAD?"

Yeah, didn't expect that one did ya? That's right; Kurogasa's parents are Dark Signers. And WHEW did I get this done! That's twenty eight pages there for ya. So get to reviewing!

(1)- When dark overlaps with dark, the doors of underworld will be opened to the world without light. Dark Synchro! Show yourself, Underground Arachne!

(2)- Clustering hopes will evoke a new horizon! Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! Dash onward, Road Warrior!

(3)- Now is the time for your Advent! My God, Earthbound Immortal Uru!


	36. Chapter 33: A Bitter Reunion

Wow people, I gave ya guys quite a shocker didn't I? Well, get ready, you'll be in for more of a shock of what Kurogasa's parents say during their duel. I'll give ya a hint. It's who killed them.

Disclaimer: Same thing.

Chapter 33: A Bitter Reunion

We last left With Kurogasa arriving at the backup generator to face two Dark Signers who bare the Mark of the Dog. Unfortunately, those two Dark Signers are revealed to be his very own parents, who died ten years ago in a car crash with him being the only survivor in that crash.

"Mom... Dad..." Kurogasa said with his voice starting to break.

"Hello, son..." Kurogasa's father said.

Kurogasa was still at a loss for words. "How is this... possible...? I thought... you..."

"We were..." His mother said. "The day of the car crash that took our lives... the pain was so unforgiving... the blood... and then it was cold... and dark..."

"It was like that forever, until we heard a voice in that dark and cold place." His father continued. "A voice that promised us what we wanted most..." Both parents looked to their son. "And that was to be with our child again..." Kurogasa's mom said. The Haos Duelist started to shed tears down his face, seeing that his parents in the state they were in. They were a wild storm of emotions setting his heart; feelings of happiness to see his parents again, of sorrow for being Dark Signers, and horror for no matter what the outcome of this duel, the family would be broken once again...

"Mom... dad... Why?"

Kurogasa's mom sadly smiled. "All this time... we're destined to face our little boy..."

Kurogasa's dad shook his head in sorrow. "But we have to duel him with all our power... lest we all face the wrath of the Netherworld ourselves..."

"But..."

"At least when we win, we can be a family again..." his father interrupted then turned to his son. "We have to burn out your Mark of the Crimson Dragon..."

"I can't... let you... do that though..." Kurogasa mumbled.

"Yes... son, I know." Kurogasa's mom said. "In fact, we want you to win... but..."

"We have a duty to the Earthbound Immortal who resurrected us..." the male Dark Signer continued as he and his wife mounted their runner with her in the side car. "Are you ready, son?"

Kurogasa just stood there in silence for a while. Sure, he had to beat the Dark Signers and save the world and all, but... this is his parents we're talking about. To him, this changes everything. There was no way he could duel his parents. Not like this. His dad noticed this.

"Look son, I know that this isn't easy for you..."

"You're _DAMN_ right it isn't! You're my parents! I can't do this to you both!" The Haos duelist shouted with tears still flowing down his eyes. "As much as I wanted you both to come back alive just so we can be a family again, this… this is not how I wanted it! Not like this!"

"I know, but you have to do this Kurogasa. If you want to save the world, you have to defeat us in a duel. You know that. Please, we're asking you not as Dark Signers, but as your parents. Beat us in this duel. I know you can. You just have to be strong to do this." Kurogasa's mom said.

Kurogasa was silent for a while standing there for a while, until he spoke up. "You know... I've always obeyed you mom and dad. Never once have I _disobeyed_ you. Since you asked... As much as it pains me to do it... I'll duel you both." His parents gently smiled.

"Thank you." Kurogasa's dad said as his son mounted his runner and puts on his helmet and he drove up next to him. Then purple flames erupted from the ground forming the Dog Mark. Both the Dog Marks on Kurogasa's parents' right arms glowed and the Haos duelist's Mark of the Crimson Dragon's Body glowed on his right arm. The Mark of the Dog also appeared in the sky.

With Yusei...

"It's starting." Yusei mused as he looked at the Dog Mark at the sky and then looked at his Mark of the Dragon Tail which was glowing.

With Jack...

"Looks like Kurogasa found the two Dark Signers he's facing." He said seeing the same thing and then looked at his Mark of the Dragon's Wings.

With Mina and Akiza...

"Akiza, your Mark." Mina noticed.

"I know... Kurogasa, please be safe." She said as she looked at her Mark of the Dragon's Rear Claw and then looked at the Dog Mark in the sky.

With Luna, Leo, and Trudge...

"Luna, look!" Leo said pointing up in the sky and she saw the Dog Mark in the sky.

"I see it. I hope Kurogasa's alright." Luna hoped looking back at her Mark of the Dragon's Front Claw.

"I'm sure he's fine. After dueling and losing to him four times, I'm sure he'll beat whoever he's dueling." Trudge assured her.

Back to Kurogasa and his parents...

Kurogasa's and his parents' duel runner were lined up next to each other. Kurogasa's dad then gave half of his deck to his wife and she inserted it in her wrist dealer.

"This is it Kurogasa." Kurogasa's mom said. "Are you sure you want to go through with this?" Kurogasa nodded.

"Alright then, first to turn the corner gets the first turn." Kurogasa's dad said as he pressed a button on his runner. "FI-RUDO MAHO! SUPIDO WARUDO! SETTO ON!"

**DUEL MODE. AUTOPILOT ON. STAND BY.**

The words 'DUEL MODE' appeared on both runners' monitor and then showed the playing field, speed counters, and life points. Then a purple aura shot out of both runners.

"RIDING DUEL, ACCELERATION!"

Both players sped off. At first, both runners were neck and neck, but by slight margin, Kurogasa's parents managed to turn the corner first. All participating duelists drew their starting hand.

**Kurogasa:** 4000/**SPC:** 0

**Dad/Mom:** 4000/**SPC:** 0

"Looks like I'll have the first turn." Dad said as he drew his sixth card. "I'll start out by summoning Darkus Siege in attack mode!" He said placing the card on the disk summoning out a knight in black armor and cape wielding a saber blade lance (4) (ATK: 1900/DEF: 1400). "I'll then end my turn with three facedowns." He finished placing the reverse card on the field. "It's your turn son. You can do it. I know you're strong to overcome this."

Kurogasa had his head down and was hesitant for a while. He didn't want to face his parents, but he _has_ to if he's going to save the world. He raised his head up and declared, "Ore no ta-n!" He drew his sixth card.

**Kurogasa's SPC:** 1

**Dad/Mom's SPC:** 1

"I summon my _Haos_ Siege in attack mode!" Kurogasa said summoning out a white knight with a white cape with a staff ready to battle. "Next I activate the speed spell, Overboost, giving me 4 speed counters, but it goes back to one afterwards." He gained the speed counters and went faster.

**Kurogasa's SPC:** 5

**Dad/Mom's SPC:** 1

"Now I play the speed spell, Speed Energy! If I have at least two speed counters, my Haos Siege's attack points go up 200 points for each speed counter I have until the end of the turn. I have 5, so that makes 1000 attack points!" Blue energy surged within Haos Siege as it powered up.

Haos Siege- (ATK: 2900/DEF: 1400)

"Now Haos Siege, attack Darkus Siege!" Kurogasa commanded. The white knight charged at the dark with its staff ready to stab at the dark knight.

"I activate the trap, High and Low! Here's how it works. I can only use its effect up to 3 times. I send the top card of my deck to the Graveyard. If that card is a monster card, the attack target gains attack equal to the sent monster's attack. If the attack target's attack points become higher than that of the attacking monster, I have to destroy it." Dad explained.

"What? That's taking a big risk there!" Kurogasa exclaimed.

"Who knows? I may have the luck of the draw. So now, I draw the first card!" Dad said and drew; he frowned at it and sent to the graveyard because it wasn't a monster card. "Second draw!" He drew his second and frowned at that too showing that it wasn't a monster card either. "Third draw!" He threw and smiled at what he got. "I drew Darkus Monarus. It has 1000 attack points, so Dark Siege gains her attack points!"

"No way!" Kurogasa shouted in disbelief.

Darkus Siege- (ATK: 2900/DEF: 1400)

Haos and Darkus Siege then did battle, with staff and saber blade lance clashing for a while until both of them stabbed each other destroying themselves into pixels.

"Ergh… I'll place two facedowns and end my turn. Now that it's the end of my turn, my speed counters go back to one." Kurogasa's runner slowed down a little bit.

**Kurogasa's SPC**: 1

**Dad/Mom's SPC:** 1

"It's my turn, and I draw." Mom said and drew her sixth card.

**Kurogasa's SPC:** 2

**Dad/Mom's SPC:** 2

"I activate one of your father's trap card, Call of the Haunted bringing back Darkus Siege!" The trap card glowed and Darkus Siege came out of it. "Next I summon Darkus Saurus!" The black and purple bipedal triceratops appeared (4) (ATK: 1700/DEF: 1500). "Now I'll attack you directly with him!" Mom declared as the dinosaur charged at him.

"Sorry mom, but you'll have to do better than that. I activate the trap, Mirror Force! It sends the attack right back at you and destroys all monster in attack mode!" Kurogasa countered activating the trap and a mirror collided with the dinosaur.

"Then I'll activate your father's other facedown, Trap Jammer! I can only activate it if you activate a trap card during the battle phase and now it destroys Mirror Force!" Mom countered back. Saurus broke through the mirror and rammed into Kurogasa's runner. The Haos Duelist grunted in pain and almost lost control of his runner as he was about to run into the wall of flames, but Kurogasa managed to regain control and moved away.

**Kurogasa:** 2300/**SPC:** 1

**Dad/Mom:** 4000/**SPC:** 2

"Now I'll have Darkus Siege attack you directly now!" Mom said as the knight charged at Kurogasa with his saber blade ready to pierce him with direct damage.

"I activate my other trap, Negate Attack! It stops your attack and ends the battle phase immediately!" Kurogasa said as a clear vortex appeared and stopped the saber blade lance in its track. The black knight pulled back.

"I end my turn with a facedown." Mom finished placing the reverse side on the field.

"Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa said as he drew his card.

**Kurogasa's SPC:** 2

**Dad/Mom's SPC:** 3

"I activate the speed spell, Angel Baton! If I have two or more speed counters, I can draw two cards, but I have to discard one to the graveyard." Kurogasa said as he did as the card told him to do. "I summon Haos Tentaclar in attack mode!" Kurogasa said summoning a white eyeball with a bright purple iris with tentacles (3) (ATK: 1350/DEF: 1550). "And that's it for me." Kurogasa concluded.

"Not doing much are you? Alright, it's my turn!" Dad said and drew a card.

**Kurogasa's SPC:** 3

**Dad/Mom's SPC:** 4

"Now I want you to watch this Kurogasa, because now I release Darkus Siege and Saurus to advance summon Dark Tuner Masquerade!" The two monsters disappeared and what took their places was a boy about 14 who has golden blond spiky hair, wears a purple and blue visor mask made out of glass. He also wears a white cape-like coat. It is buttoned by straps on its chest however towards the waist it is unbuttoned. Underneath the jacket, was a blue shirt and under that there is what appears to be armor on his upper chest. The belt has a circular belt buckle and he also wears boots with small heels at the bottom. These boots have straps and buckles on them as well (10) (ATK: 100/DEF: 100).

"Oh no, not a Dark Tuner…" Kurogasa groaned.

"Now I activate Masquerade's ability. When he is summoned this way, I can summon a dark attribute monster from my deck. So now I special summon Darkus Centipoid!" Masquerade's visor shot a beam at nothing and the beam formed into a black and purple centipede with gold legs, mandibles, and red eyes (2) (ATK: 800/DEF: 1000).

"I'm guessing you know what comes up next right?" Mom asked.

"Yeah…" Kurogasa answered.

"Well get ready, because I dark tune my level 2 Centipoid with my level 10 Masquerade!" Dad said as the teenaged boy turned into 10 and surrounded the centipede and went inside it. The bug made a piercing screeching sound as the ten stars went in making an orange outline of itself. Two more stars appeared and four of them paired up and disappeared leaving the remaining eight. The orange outline of Centipoid disappeared; the stars turned black and circled around each other.

"_Yami wa subete no hikari no shōhi o shinakereba naranai! Eien no yami ga zetsubō to shi ni michite irute miyou! Daaku Shinkuro! Aware o, Darkus Alpha Hydranoid!"_ (1)

Soon, a pillar of black light formed from the black stars and when the black light faded, a three-headed hydra with a frill on each one, three tails and a dark skin tone with six wings on his back with spikes on its torso appeared (-8) (ATK: 2900/DEF: 2400).

"Now I'll activate its special ability. I remove one dark type monster from our graveyard to half the attack and defense of one your monsters permanently."

"What?" Kurogasa gasped.

"So I remove Darkus Siege to cut Tentaclar strength in half." Dad continued as he removed the said monster from play taking it out of the graveyard and putting it in his pocket and then Hydranoid glowed with dark energy and shot it towards Tentaclar. The eyeball had its lid closed half way showing it was getting weak.

Haos Tentaclar- (ATK: 625/DEF: 725)

"Now Darkus Alpha Hydranoid, attack his Tentaclar with Trident of Doom!" Dad ordered. The three headed-hydras opened all of its mouths and fired purple fireballs at the white eyeball when it formed into one and was heading straight for Tentaclar.

"Sorry dad, but if it's targeted, I can negate that attack with Tentaclar's ability! Flare Blind!" Kurogasa countered. The eyeball shined its light and disintegrated the purple fireball at the last second before the fireball could even hit.

"In that case, I'll activate the facedown your mother set down, Synchro Blast! Whenever a synchro monster attacks, it can deal an additional 500 points of damage. Since Hydranoid is a Dark Synchro Monster, it counts." Dad said as the trap card glowed and hit Kurogasa from behind making him grunt in pain.

**Kurogasa:** 1800/**SPC:** 3

**Dad/Mom:** 4000/**SPC:** 4

"Sorry, son, but that's how the shadow duel goes. I end my turn." Dad said.

"Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa said and drew a card.

**Kurogasa's SPC:** 4

**Dad/Mom's SPC:** 5

"I'll place one card facedown and end my turn." Kurogasa said placing the reverse card on the field.

"Kurogasa, I know you can do better than that." Mom said a little disappointed. "It's my move." She said and drew her card.

**Kurogasa's SPC:** 5

**Dad/Mom's SPC: **6

"Now I'll remove Darkus Saurus from play, and cut Tentaclar's strength in half." Mom said as she removed Saurus from the graveyard and puts it in her pocket. The same process of draining Tentaclar's attack points happened again.

Haos Tentaclar- (ATK: 312/DEF: 362)

"I activate the trap, Card of Last will! Since you lowered my monster's attack points, I can now draw until I have five cards!" Kurogasa said revealing his facedown and drew until he had five cards in his hand

"So that's what you were aiming for, isn't it." Mom said. "I guess you _are _better than that. Alpha Hydranoid, attack his Tentaclar now!"

"You know that I'll only just block that move with Tentaclar's ability. You know that right?" Kurogasa reminded them.

"Yes son, we know. But don't forget Synchro Blast. If Hydranoid attacks, then Synchro Blasts kicks in, giving you 500 points of damage." Dad countered. The same process happened again. Hydranoid attacked, Tentaclar blocked it with Flare Blind and Synchro Blast hit Kurogasa again.

**Kurogasa:** 1300/**SPC:** 5

**Dad/Mom**: 4000/**SPC:** 6

"And before I end my turn, I'll play the speed spell Count Up. If I have 2 or more speed counters, I can send a number of cards from my hand to my graveyard getting 2 speed counters for each, I discard 3 cards giving us six and have the full twelve." Mom finished discarding three cards to the graveyard and gained speed counters.

**Kurogasa's SPC:** 5

**Dad/Mom's SPC: **12

"Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa declared making his hand now seven.

**Kurogasa's SPC:** 6

**Dad/Mom's SPC: **12

"Now we're getting somewhere. First I summon my tuner monster, Haos El Condor in attack mode!" Kurogasa said summoning the white and yellow shaman creature with the large Aztec mask (3) (ATK: 1300/DEF: 1100). "Then I'll activate his special ability! Whenever he's summoned successfully, I can change the level of one of my monsters on my side of the field. And I choose Tentaclar and make his level five!" El Condor glowed with green energy and gave it Tentaclar

Haos Tentaclar's level: 5

"Are you summoning what I think you're summoning?" Dad asked.

"Yes Dad, it is. I tune my level 5 Tentaclar with my level 3 El Condor!" Kurogasa said as El Condor turned into three green rings and El Condor into five stars. The stars lined up in the tunnel of rings.

"_Shinzou no tamashii ga, piasu no hikari o kensaki to yami o uchikudaku! Shinkuro Shoukan! Araware o, Haos Omega Leonidas!"_

A beam of light shot out of the rings and then Kurogasa's ace white dragon with golden horns and spikes with dragon-like wings appeared (8) (ATK: 3000/DEF: 2500).

"Leonidas… I never thought we'd see that monster again. It's the very first one you created when you were building your deck." Dad said.

"I know…" Kurogasa said sadly. "I just can't believe I have to use him against you in this duel… Now I'll activate the speed spell, Dead Synchron! If I have at least 5 speed counters, I can do the tuning process using monsters from the graveyard, but at the end phase I have to remove the synchro monster that was summoned. So now I tune my level 3 El Condor with my level 3 Tentaclar!" Kurogasa said as he removed the said cards from the graveyard. And then faint images of the same monsters appeared and the tuning process happened again.

"_Kurayami no naka kara sekai o mamoru tame ni, hikari ga purotekutā to kyuuseishu ni naru you! Shinkuro Shoukan! Ideyo, Haos Aranaut!"_

A beam of light shot out of the rings and then the white ninja knight-like fighter appeared (6) (ATK: 2000/DEF: 2000). "Now I have Leonidas's special ability! I choose one light monster from my graveyard, and Leonidas receives half of that monster's attack points until the end of the turn, so I choose my Haos Laserman thanks to discarding it with Angel Baton!" A faint image of Laserman appeared and went in Leonidas.

Haos Omega Leonidas- (ATK: 4100/DEF: 2500)

"Now Leonidas, attack Darkus Alpha Hydranoid with Omega Eraser!" Kurogasa ordered. Leonidas flew up and fired a huge beam from its mouth at Hydranoid destroying the three-headed hydra into pixels and his parents spun out control for a while as this happened.

**Kurogasa:** 1300/**SPC:** 6

**Dad/Mom:** 2800/**SPC:** 11

Kurogasa's dad managed to get the runner with the side car back in control. "Now I'll activate Hydranoid's other ability. If he's destroyed, then the monsters that were removed from play due to its effect return to the field!" Mom said as he placed Darkus Siege and Saurus back on her husband's disk and the dark knight and bipedal triceratops appeared on the field.

"It's your turn, Haos Aranaut! Attack Haos Saurus with Spiral Glowdown!" Kurogasa ordered. The ninja knight-like warrior jumped up and dived down while spiraling down at his target while being enveloped in light destroying Saurus in the process. The parents protected themselves from the pixels that were flying towards them.

**Kurogasa:** 1300/**SPC:** 6

**Dad/Mom:** 2500/**SPC:** 11

"I'll then end my turn with a two facedowns. And now, thanks to Dead Synchron, Aranaut is removed from play." Kurogasa concluded with Aranaut disappearing and Leonidas's attack points returning to normal.

"I'm impressed son, you managed to take a decent chunk of our life points, but it's still not over yet." Dad said.

"It's my turn now." Mom said and drew her card.

**Kurogasa's SPC:** 7

**Dad/Mom's SPC:** 12

"I play the speed spell version of Monster Reborn! By removing ten speed counters, I can bring one monster from the graveyard, and I choose Saurus."

**Kurogasa's SPC:** 7

**Dad/Mom's SPC: **2

An ankh appeared above them and the dark bipedal triceratops appeared.

"Now it's time that we introduce to you the God that resurrected us." Mom said. Kurogasa gasped in horror of what she meant by that.

"Wait, you mean-"

"Yes son, we are going to summon our Earthbound Immortal." Dad finished his sentence.

"I release Siege, Saurus, and the souls that we offer!" Mom said as the two Darkus Monsters disappeared into a purple light, went up and then it formed the Earthbound heart. As it pulsated, black fog, which contained the souls trapped within that fog, went into the Earthbound heart as it continued to pulsate.

"Oh man… this is not good." Kurogasa muttered worriedly. As the black fog continued to get sucked into the Earthbound heart, his mom chanted:

"_Kison no sekai no tamashī wa, go shujin no mi o teikyō shite imasu! Go sen-nen kara matte, anata no nemuri kara shuppatsu! Kourinseyo! Jibakushin Arukyu!"_ (2)

The Earthbound heart stopped pulsating and glowed bright purple. A beam of that purple light descended upon the ground, the purple flames intensified, and then from out of the ground came the Dog Immortal with glowing white markings. It made a bellow, piercing howl. (10) (ATK: 3000/DEF: 2800).

"That's-" Kurogasa breathed.

"Yes son, it is. This is the Earth bound Immortal that resurrected us. The one that granted our wish of being with you because of what happened ten years ago." Dad said. "And speaking of that, Kurogasa, it's time you learned the truth of our deaths, do you still remember it?"

"How could I _not_?" Kurogasa mumbled sadly. "I already know about the car crash incident 10 years ago..."

"Kurogasa..." His mom interrupted. "It was no accident… that crash was intentional… we were murdered. And we know who killed us." Mom growled. This shocked Kurogasa.

"What? What do you mean it was no accident? Murdered?" Kurogasa demanded.

"Yes. The last drive we had led us towards the highway over at New Domino City; we came back from that party to introduce the new line of Duel Runners. The very ones we ride in this turbo duel." He continued. "But once we got on the highway, the car that was on the opposite side, we saw the intentionally going on our side of the road and crashed into us head on. The impact crushed us. You were lucky that you were in the backseat and that the impact didn't affect you as much."

'_No way...'_ Kurogasa thought. "What did the guy that crashed into us look like? Did you see anything... before you... died...?" his parents were hesitant to say who, but he had the right to know the truth.

"You may not believe this, but the one who crashed into us... Before your mother and I died, the last thing we saw was that the man that crashed into us lost his arm in the process." His mother replied. That hit home for the Haos Duelist; there was only one man he knew that fit that description.

"No… no, but that can't be! Are you saying that-" Kurogasa protested.

"Yes, Kurogasa." Mom said.

"The one that crashed into us was our good, well, our _once_ good friend… Rex Goodwin." His father said. Kurogasa was in shock and his fears became true and realistic. Goodwin, a family friend of his parents, the very same man that took care of him for ten years, killed his parents.

"He… did this to you?" Kurogasa whispered in horror.

"Yes. I know this is all hard to take in, but it's the truth. We wanted to be brought back to life so that, not only would we be able to see you again, but to revenge on Goodwin for killing us." Mom said with a hint of anger in her voice.

"Then, I'll make sure I avenge you both." the Haos duelist stated. "But... I have to beat you both first..."

"Let's hope you succeed then." Dad replied. "No matter what, we are tied to the Earthbound Immortal's will and forced to duel you in order to win. Dark Signer vs. Signer."

"Now Earthbound Immortal Allqu, attack his life points directly!" Mom said as the Earthbound dog started to go for Kurogasa with its mouth about to bite at him.

"I activate my facedown, Reduction Barrier! Now the damage is divided by ten!" Kurogasa said as a barrier formed over Kurogasa as soon as the Dog was about to bite him. The Dog backed off as soon as the barrier hit its mouth.

**Kurogasa:** 1000/**SPC:** 7

**Dad/Mom:** 2500/**SPC:** 2

"I'm about to end my turn, but before that, I activate Allqu's special ability. Once per turn, during the End Phase, I can destroy one your monsters. So I destroy Leonidas!" Mom said as the Dog fired a huge white beam at Leonidas, destroying him instantly.

"Now I'll end my turn." Mom finished.

"This could probably be your last turn. So you have to make this one count." Dad pointed out.

'_Dad's right. This may be my last turn. I have to give it everything I got. But... if I manage win somehow, then...'_ Kurogasa didn't want to go that conclusion, but he already knew that in either case, there would be a huge consequence. Lose, then he loses his friends by being sent to the Netherworld. Win, he loses his parents_. 'But I have to do this. Mom and Dad are counting on me to win this turbo duel. I just wish I had the courage to do it.'_ He thought in sorrow. Just then, his Crimson Dragon mark shined brightly. He saw it with his eyes widened and he knew what that meant.

"My mark..." Kurogasa breathed.

With Yusei...

"Again?" Yusei asked himself looking at his Tail Mark."

With Jack...

"I swear, this is the third time in a row this happened." Jack said seeing his Wings Mark glowing.

With Mina and Akiza...

"Your mark." Mina noticed.

"I know. Kurogasa needs my help." Akiza said looking at her Rear Claw Mark.

With Leo, Luna, and Trudge...

"Luna, your mark is glowing brighter!" Leo noticed.

"What does that mean?" Trudge asked.

"Kurogasa needs our help." Luna answered looking at her Front Claw Mark.

Meanwhile, the canister holding the Head Mark glowed as well. And then it disappeared.

Back at the duel...

All of the other Marks disappeared on the Signer's arms and they all converged to Kurogasa imprinting the full seal on the Haos Duelist's back. And then, the top card of his deck glowed.

"His back." Mom noticed.

"Yes, dear. Our son now has the full power of the Crimson Dragon on his back." Dad said. "You know what that means, do you son?" He asked Kurogasa.

"Yes..." Kurogasa muttered sadly with his head down while he shed a tear from his eye. "I don't want to do it, but I have to, if I'm going to save the world..."

"It's alright son. Go on. Do it." His dad said.

Kurogasa held his head back up and placed his hand on the top card. He was hestitant, but then he shouted, "Ore no ta-n!" and drew the glowing card.

**Kurogasa's SPC:** 8

**Dad/Mom's SPC:** 3

"First, I activate my Call of the Haunted trap card! It lets me revive my Haos Omega Leonidas from my graveyard! The trap card glowed and Leonidas came out of the card. "And now, I summon Savior Dragon to the field!" The small pink dragon with a curvy head, small wings, and yellow eyes appeared (1) (ATK: 0/DEF: 0). "Then I special summon my Turbo Booster to the field from my hand since I normal summoned this turn." Rally's favorite machine type monster appeared on the field. (1) (ATK: 0/DEF: 0). "Now I tune my level 8 Omega Leonidas and level 1 Turbo Booster with my level 1 Savior Dragon!" Savior Dragon flew up, became transparent with a large green ring inside itself and grew larger. Leonidas turned eight stars and Turbo Booster turned into one star; adding together making it nine stars. The stars lined up inside Savior Dragon.

"_Kibo to jihi no hikari wa, kokoro no kurai joka suru! Sono kagayaki wa, sukui ni bikon to akarui mirai ni natte miyou! Shinkuro Shoukan! Kouraiseyo! Haos Savior Leonidas!"_

A beam of light shot out of Savior Dragon, expanded, and what took its place was the evolved form of Leonidas, with four wings protruding from its back while wearing golden armor on its chest with its claws and feet really sharp. The new dragon roared with majesty and authority as light shined from itself lighting up the night sky (10) (ATK: 4000/DEF: 3000). His parents were in awe seeing this new dragon.

With Yusei...

"Kurogasa summoned Savior Leonidas." Yusei said seeing the light from far away.

With Jack...

"Those Dark Signers Kurogasa's facing are in big trouble now." Jack said seeing it too.

With Mina and Akiza...

"That light..." Mina noticed.

"It's Kurogasa's Savior Leonidas." Akiza said as they both saw it too.

With Leo, Luna, and Trudge...

"It's Savior Leonidas!" Leo saw seeing the light from afar.

"Kurogasa will win for sure." Luna said seeing the light as well.

"Now that's bright." Trudge said as he had to put on sunglasses to shield his eyes from the light.

Back at the duel...

"It's beautiful." Mom said in awe.

"Yeah. I just wish I didn't have to use it against the both of you. Now I'll activate my other facedown, Reverse Trap, with this card, all increases and decreases to attack and defense are reversed this turn, why so? So I can play this, the speed spell version of Forbidden Chalice. As long as I have one speed counter, I would increase a monster's attack by 400 points, plus the effect of a monster, if it has any are negated. But thanks to Reverse Trap, instead of increasing the attack, it's decreased."

"But why do that?" Dad asked.

"It's not for the 400 points, it's for the effect negation, and I think Earthbound Immortal Allqu fits that description." Kurogasa said. His parents gasped at that as a small chalice was above the Immortal Dog and the cup poured a liquid onto the dog. The Immortal Dog felt that it was getting weaker due to the effects of the liquid.

Earthbound Immortal Allqu- (ATK: 2600/DEF: 2800)

"Now I activate Savior Leonidas's special ability. I can remove up to five light attribute monsters from the graveyard and Leonidas receives the attack strength of all the ones that were removed. I'll remove one from the game which is Omega Leonidas." A faint image of its pre-evolution appeared and went inside Leonidas.

Haos Omega Leonidas (ATK: 7000/DEF: 3000)

"Now Haos Savior Leonidas, atta… He suddenly stopped. _'I can't do it! This is a no-brainer. If I attack them I'll win the duel, and… they'll be gone forever. One attack and I'll be alone… again…'_

"Kurogasa!" He snapped out his shock and saw his parents ride beside him.

"It's okay…" His mom whispered with tears in her eyes.

"No, it's not!" He shouted. "If I attack, you guys will be gone again! I can't let that happen!"

"Well, think about this!" His dad shouted. "If we win, you'll be gone... we'll still be separated, and trust me when I say it, the life of a Dark Signer is not a road I wish on even my worst enemy. I'd rather be dead than forced to follow a dark force!"

"But still…"

"But nothing, Kurogasa!" His mom interjected. "Do the attack, live your life… it's all we ever wanted for you!"

"Mom…" Kurogasa whispered.

"Do it already son! Attack us!" His dad ordered.

Kurogasa had his head down for a while and was shaking with frustration. And then… "Fine… you asked for it! Savior Leonidas, attack Earthbound Immortal Allqu! Omega Supernova!" Kurogasa yelled. Savior Leonidas then flew towards the Earthbound Dog dodging all the attacks the dog was trying to make by trying to eat it, but to no avail. And then, when the dragon got close enough, it shined light from itself. It was getting brighter and brighter as the Earthbound Dog was engulfed in it, and then…

BOOOOOM!

The light exploded sending Kurogasa's parents flying as they screamed and their life points depleted.

**Kurogasa:** 1000/**SPC:** 7

**Dad/Mom:** 0/**SPC:** 0

Everyone seeing this afar, Yusei, Jack, Akiza, Mina, Leo, Luna, and Trudge had their eyes widened when they saw it.

"What the-" Yusei began.

"Whoa… talk about going all out with a bang. Literally." Jack mused.

"He did it." Akiza whispered.

"Yes. It would appear so. Mina said.

"Whoa, talk about a big bang!" Leo exclaimed.

"Yeah, no kidding." Luna agreed.

"Man, now that's _really_ bright!" Trudge said.

Back at the duel, Kurogasa's parent's runner spun out of control before crashing on the ground with his parents rolling off the runner and soon the flames died out and Savior Leonidas disappeared. Kurogasa immediately stopped the runner and ran over to them, taking off his helmet and knelt down to them. "Mom! Dad!"

His Dad chuckled softly. "Good job, son... you've made me very proud of what you've become…"

"Yeah, I've become the person that sent you to the Netherworld forever…" Kurogasa said with sorrow with tears flowing out of his eyes.

"You're wrong. You've become a man. You were able to overcome your fears of defeating us. I'm proud of you."

"So am I. You've beaten us and our Earthbound Immortal… but now that you have defeated us… we can no longer be bound to this world…"

The Haos Duelist looked down in sadness and sorrow, remembering how Rally took the fall for Roman in the last duel and then faded away into dust. It came crashing down as tears fell down from his eyes, "No…"

"This is how it has to be." She continued. "And I'm glad it happened this way..."

"I can't lose you guys again!" Kurogasa cried. "Ten years, I grew up without a real family, and after what you said about Goodwin... This can't be happening..."

"I know it's hard for you to take in… but now, I'm telling you… as your father… take out the rest of the Dark Signers… and close the doors from the Netherworld… "His father stated as he started to turn to stone. "Goodwin needs to wait for now… Goodbye, son… stay strong…" And with that he faded away into dust.

"DAD!" He then saw the same thing happening to his mother but it was happening much slower. "MOM!"

"I'll follow your father soon. Just know Kurogasa, that we will always love you no matter what." Mom said.

"Mom, no, please… don't go!" Kurogasa getting her up and hugging her mother, not wanting her to let go. "I don't… want to be alone…" Kurogasa sobbed.

"I know honey, I know…" Mom said as she tried her best to comfort her little boy. Slowly with each passing second, she started to turn into stone, but his mom is still with him for a while, and then she started to… sing to him.

_Konna ni tsumetai tobari no fukaku de_  
(Beneath a veil so cold)  
_anata wa hitori de nemutteru_  
(You deeply sleep, all alone)

'_This song… it's…'_ Kurogasa thought.

_inori no utagoe sabishii nohara wo_  
(The melody of prayer; on the lonely fields,)  
_chiisa na hikari ga terashiteta_  
(a little light shined)

_Anata no yume wo miteta_  
(I watched as you dreamed)  
_kodomo no you ni waratteta_  
(You laughed like a child)  
_natsukashiku mada tooku_  
(So dear, and yet so far -)  
_sore wa mirai no yakusoku_  
(That is the promise of our future)

'_This is… the lullaby mom sings to me.'_ Kurogasa thought as tears still streamed down his eyes and sobbed even more. As she continued to sing, his mom turned to stone and she started to fade away slowly.

_Itsuka midori no asa ni_  
(That one day, on a green morning,)  
_itsuka tadoritsukeru to_  
(One day, we will make it there)  
_fuyugareta kono sora wo_  
(Because in this wintered sky)  
_shinjiteiru kara_  
(We still believe)  
_Fields of… Hope…_

At that last verse, she faded completely to dust. Kurogasa stood up with his head down, his body shaking with sadness with tears streaming down his face. "Mom… dad… I won't let your deaths be in vain. For you… I'll beat the Dark Signers!" Kurogasa got out. Then he raised his head in the air and screamed to heavens.

"MOOOOOM! DAAAAAAAD!"

Oh man… this chapter got me crying while I was writing this last part. *wipes tear* anyway, um… get to reviewing alright? Oh, and that song Kurogasa's mom sang was Fields of Hope by Rie Tanaka from the anime Gundam Seed Destiny, which I don't own by the way. Putting a song in a story was first for me, so I hope I did good in that.

(1)- The darkness shall consume all light! Let the eternal darkness be filled with despair and death! Dark Synchro! Appear now, Darkus Alpha Hydranoid!

(2)- Souls of the existing world, offer up yourselves for your master! From five thousand years wait, depart from your slumber! Advent, Earthbound Immortal Allqu!


	37. Chapter 34: Spirited Away

Okay guys, time for the next battle of the Dark Signers! Here we go!

Disclaimer: Same thing.

Chapter 34: Spirited Away

Last chapter, we left off where Kurogasa defeated his parents with much regret. He didn't want to do it, but he had to. It was the only way. He soon got over his sadness because he still had business to finish and to follow his parent's last wish. So, the Haos duelist went inside the backup generator. It was huge on the inside seeing that there was obviously a huge generator full of Enerdy stored just in case one of the towers failed. In front of it, was a small stone-like pedestal; Kurogasa went up to it and there was a carving of the Dog Nazca Line, but in the middle was a space, for a card.

'_This must be where you put the card in to seal it.'_ Kurogasa thought. He took Leonidas's card out and placed it on the space. The pedestal glowed and then the place starts to shake. "Oh crap, better get out of here." Kurogasa said as he got Leonidas's card off the pedestal and dashed out of there. As soon as he got out, he could see the backup generator sinking into the ground until it can't be seen anymore.

"Well, I guess that's that." Kurogasa said and then, far away from where he's at, a light shone there, and the light faded. Kurogasa couldn't see well what it was, but it actually turned out to be… people. "Looks like those are the people that were captured by the Earthbound Immortal. That means… I was right! If you beat the Earthbound Immortal, the people captured by them will come back! Yes! Martha and Rally will definitely come back! I know it!" Kurogasa said relieved and happy to see that. "But first, I gotta help my friends. I need to get to Luna and the others." Kurogasa went up to his runner, sets his duel disk on it, puts his deck in his holster attached to his belt and was about to put on his helmet and start his engine, until he saw a tower of light rising up to the sky for a few seconds and then it was gone.

"Huh? What's that? That light came from Leo and Luna's car. What happened?" Kurogasa asked himself and to make things even weirder, his Mark of the Crimson Dragon body glowed for some strange reason. "And what's up with this? My Mark's glowing the minute I defeated mom and dad. Is someone battling a Dark Signer now?" Kurogasa asked himself as looked up in the sky, but saw no geoglyph. "That's weird, there's no geoglyph showing in the sky, so then why… What the-" Kurogasa said amazed as his Mark glowed even brighter and brighter until he was engulfed by it.

Meanwhile…

Leo and Trudge noticed that Luna was nowhere to be found because of that light that shined from the car. There was a chance that she must've fell out of the car, so the two decided look for her. It was taking a while too looking for her. I mean, spotting a girl with sea green hair with two pig tails isn't hard to find right?

"Luna! Luna! Where are you? Can you hear me?" Leo called as he kept looking for his sister. He kept running around for a while until he came across a tower. It was one of the control towers for the Old Enerdy Reactor and there was a picture of the Monkey on it too. He walked up to it. "That tower, it must be…" Leo began.

"_So, the Signer decided to show up."_ A voice called and then the purple flames ignited from the ground surrounding Leo and the tower. The flames continued on until it took shape in the form of the Monkey.

"If this is the Monkey Geoglyph, then…" Leo began before he heard a footstep; he turned to see a man in dark robes with yellow markings. It was Devack.

"Who are you? You're no Signer." Devack said.

"So what if I'm not? I'm here to protect Luna!" Leo shouted. Trudge ran up a slab of rock and noticed Leo and Devack down below.

"Leo!" Trudge called.

"How unexpected. To come here in this flame, knowing you're not a Signer. You want to die?"

"No, but this is a chance to prove myself! Let's settle this with a duel! If I defeat you, then Luna won't have to deal with you!" Leo then activated his duel disk and his deck was shuffled.

"I'll admit you have courage, but that will be your downfall. You think a Non-Signer like you can defeat a Dark Signer, then you're dead wrong." Devack said and activated his duel disk as well.

"We'll see about that!"

"Then I'll show you no mercy!" And with that, both duelists drew their starting hand.

"DUEL!"

**Devack:** 4000

**Leo:** 4000

"Leo! Stop it!" Trudge called. The Sector Security Officer then heard a duel runner coming by and suddenly screeched to a halt. He turned around to see Yusei. "Yusei! What are you doing here?"

"I saw that light and came over here as fast as I could. What happened?"

"Luna vanished along with that light and now Leo is dueling this Dark Signer."

"What?" Yusei asked, but then realized it. "If that's the case, then Luna must've gone to the Spirit World to free Ancient Fairy Dragon from there."

"You expect me to believe that?"

"It's true! She went to the Spirit World in order to reclaim her Dragon's power!"

"Wha?"

"Right now, we need to worry about stopping this duel. Hey! That boy is not a Signer! Stop this duel!" He shouted to Devack.

"Sorry, but this shadow duel cannot stop, until there is a victor." Devack said.

"I'll start things off! Ore no ta-n! Doro!" Leo declared and drew his sixth card. "I summon Morphtronic Magnen in defense mode!" A U-shaped magnet appeared in front of him (3) (ATK: 800/DEF: 800). "If this card is in defense mode, you can't attack any of my other monsters. And with that, I'll place a facedown and end my turn." He said placing a reverse card on the field. _'I set down my Morphtransition facedown, so if he tries to attack, I can negate it and switch the attacking monster to defense mode. And then when I summon another Magnen, Devack will be in Attack Lockdown.'_

"Leo, stop! You do realize what happens if you lose this duel don't you?" Yusei asked.

"All the more reason, I should protect Luna!" Leo shouted back at Yusei! "I have to do this Yusei! I have to protect her!"

"Leo…"

"I guess all we can do now is have faith in Leo that he'll win." Trudge said.

"Watashi no ta-n. Doro." Devack said and drew his sixth card. "I summon Ape Magician in attack mode." An ape in orange Dark Magician like armor with a green cape holding a Minus staff appeared (3) (ATK: 800/DEF: 1200). "Next I'll activate his special ability. By discarding one card from my hand, I can take control of one of your monsters."

"What?" Leo gasped as Ape Magician used its minus staff to control Magnen by shooting out electricity and move it to Devack's side of the field.

"So now that I have control of your Magnen, I'll have Ape Magician attack you directly!" Devack said and then Ape Magician shot electricity from his Minus staff and shocked Leo. The Morphtronic Duelist yelled from the top of his lungs as he was being shocked.

"LEO!" Yusei and Trudge cried.

**Devack:** 4000

**Leo:** 3200

Smoke sizzled out of him as he fell on his knees. 'What was that? This is worse than dueling Sayer.' Leo thought.

"What you feel is because of this Shadow Duel. I'll try to make this duel quick and painless as possible. That's the only compassion I can give you." Devack said. "Now it's your turn, boy." Leo managed to stand back up while panting heavily.

"Leo…" Yusei muttered.

"He can't take much more of it. Is there anything we can do?" Trudge asked.

"What's wrong? Given up already? Are you ready to surrender yourself to the Netherworld?" Devack asked.

"Quit mocking me!" Leo shouted. "I promised to protect Luna no matter what! Ore no ta-n! Doro!" Leo shouted and drew his next card. _'Think Leo, think! If I summon a monster, then Devack will just take control of it. In that case…'_ "I summon Morphtronic Magnen Bar in defense mode!" A red magnet bar with black square tips showing the 'N' on one side and 'S' on the other appeared (1) (ATK: 100/DEF: 100). "Then I'll place a facedown and end my turn." He finished placing another reverse card on his field.

"Heh. You're at the end of your ropes huh?" Devack chuckled with Leo just glaring at him.

'_Luna, I'm going to beat Devack before you return, for sure.'_ Leo thought.

While that was going on, we now turn our attention to Kurogasa who was suddenly engulfed by a light thanks to his own Mark. Where was he? We'll find out now. Kurogasa groaned as he stretched out. "That was the weirdest thing ever for my mark to do that… wonder where I am." Once he opened his eyes, he let out an alarming yelp seeing nothing but an endless void of light while floating. "Okay… this is getting even weirder. Where is this anyway? I should be back helping Luna!"

"_But you are about to enter where Luna has gone…"_

"Wha? Who's there?" Suddenly, another bright flash appeared in front of him and caused the Haos duelist to turn around to avoid being blinded. Once it finished, he turned around and gasped as he saw the humanoid, blue scaled dragon known as Ancient Fairy Dragon.

"Are you..."

"_Yes."_ the calming voice of the dragon spoke. _"I am Ancient Fairy Dragon, Luna's Signer Dragon."_

"So that means Luna got you back?" Kurogasa asked.

"_I'm afraid not."_ the dragon replied sadly. _"I am actually in need of your help; you are the only Signer I can count on."_

"You mean you couldn't contact, Yusei, Akiza, Jack or the fifth Signer?"

"_Since you hold the Body Mark of the Crimson Dragon, you have the power to link with one of the Signers and thus Luna's powers of being in tune with the Spirit World."_

"Wow, I can do that?"

"_Only one Signer at a time... but all will be explained later. Right now, Luna is in need of your help. She has gone to the Spirit World in order to free my physical self, but has been caught by Zeman the Ape King's army."_

Kurogasa gasped. "They must be monster spirits in league with the Dark Signers!"

"_That is correct. She was able to find a mage, Torunka and my servant, Regulus and freed him of the Minus Curse powers of Zeman."_ The dragon explained. _"Fortunately, she was able to get Torunka to hid Regulus before she was captured."_

"Well, I have to get there!" the Haos duelist exclaimed. "She could die!"

Ancient Fairy Dragon shook her head. _"Without Regulus, Zeman can't free me of his curse lest he risk having me set free and able to save Luna; which is why I need you to find Torunka and Regulus and free Luna and myself before they decide to do away with her."_

Kurogasa nodded firmly. "I will, don't worry. Problem is, how _do_ I get to the Spirit World?"

"_Focus on Luna with your Mark, this should lead you into the Spirit World and I'll help in order to keep you from ending up in Zeman's castle."_

"Thank you." He said as he closed his eyes focusing on Luna with his Mark. His Body Mark glowed even brighter and Ancient Fairy Dragon glowed as well. The two lights glowed very brightly and Kurogasa was consumed by it. Moments later, Kurogasa groaned and opened his eyes, standing up. He found himself in a small town of white stone buildings, glancing around. "I think I made it… This must be the Spirit World." He said. "Wherever this part of the Spirit World is. Why does this place seem abandoned? I might as well look around and see if I can find this Torunka and Regulus Ancient Fairy Dragon was talking about." Everywhere he looked there was no sign of life in sight. The streets were lined by copies of the Ape Magician's staff, which seemed to be having strange effects on the world around, such as balls bouncing back up steps, or leaves flying up to rejoin tree branches. "That's twisted…" He continued to walk a ways into the town, but then saw some small sprites gazing out at him from all around. "Alright, somebody to talk to…" But when he tried to approach them, they hid away out of sight. "Or not…"

Suddenly there were cries of alarm as a dark mist rolled into the town, covering the streets. Armor-clad monkeys wielding more staffs emerged from the mist, glancing around as if searching for something. Kurogasa hurried away, hiding in a corner of an alleyway before the monkeys could spot him.

"Those must be Zeman the Ape King's army." He figured, as his mark began to glow. "Yeah, no doubt about it…" As he pondered more, a group of the sprites from earlier ran past the alley entrance, only to be struck by blasts of dark energy that sealed them into stone tablets resembling Duel Monsters cards, with one difference, the Levels were negative! "Oh snap, is _that_ what's been going on?" Suddenly from a distance, a monkey soldier strode into view and noticed Kurogasa.

"Hey, you there!" The monkey soldier said.

"Oh crap!" Kurogasa said as he started to run for it. The other monkey soldiers noticed Kurogasa running and they went after them as well. The Haos duelist kept on running and the monkey soldiers kept chasing. He was running around town, until he saw that he was surrounded by monkey soldiers.

"This is bad." Kurogasa said as the monkey soldiers crept closer. Just then, Kurogasa's deck suddenly glowed and then seven small orbs of light surrounded him and took the shapes in Omega Leonidas, Nemus, Lars Lion, Aranaut, Tigrerra, Contestir, and Lumagrowl.

"Huh? Leonidas, Nemus, Lars Lion, Aranaut, Tigrerra, Contestir, Lumagrowl?" Kurogasa asked confused.

"Don't worry, we're here to protect you." Contestir talked. The Haos Duelist was surprised at hearing this. His monsters were actually talking.

"Did you guys just talk?" Kurogasa said surprised.

"Of course we can talk. We're duel monster spirits." Lumagrowl growled. Kurogasa was just standing there surprised that his monsters can talk. "Don't just stand there gawking, get outta here!"

"Lumagrowl is right my lord. You must flee this place." Aranaut said readying his fists.

"We'll buy you some time." Nemus said readying his staff.

"But what about you guys? You'll get turned into stone tablets!" Kurogasa protested.

"Don't worry about us. Just go. You need to do what Ancient Fairy Dragon instructed you to do." Lars Lion said.

"She's right. Better go while we hold them off here." Tigrerra said.

"You just worry about getting that girl Signer." Leonidas said.

Kurogasa was hesitant for a while, but he nodded at this. "Alright, I'll go. Thanks guys." Kurogasa said.

"No problem." Leonidas said giving him a thumbs up. "Now get outta here!" The Haos Duelist nodded and ran off. "Alright, now that he's gone, let's do this." The dragon said.

"Let's see how they like this! Arcadia Sword!" Lumagrowl howled as light energy swords shot out of its tails and started to hit the monkeys.

"Sparkly Arrow!" Nemus said swinging his staff making a wave of light energy.

"Sagittarius Arrow!" Lars Lion said firing a light arrow from her wrist like bow.

"Mirage Fist!" Aranaut said as his fists glowed with light and started punching the monkeys.

"Hyper Velocity Fang!" Tigrerra roared as the blades from her armor extended and slashed through the monkeys at high speed.

"Spartablaster Sol!" Contestir said as his battle gear appeared behind his back and fired light from it.

"Omega Eraser!" Leonidas roared as he got on all fours and fired a huge laser at the monkeys.

As the Haos Duelist ran, he began to think about his monsters that he left behind. _'Guys, your sacrifice won't be in vain.'_ He thought. As he continued to run, he noticed that half of the monkey soldiers that were battling his monsters were after him. He kept on running while he noticed his reflections in windows were upside-down as opposed to reversed, but he paid little attention to this when he found himself stranded in a dead end! "Aw great, a dead end…" Then a stone by his foot lifted up.

"Come in, come in!" a voice said urgently… Without hesitation, Kurogasa went under the stone and the stone went down.

Back at the duel…

"Watashi no ta-n!" Devack said and drew a card. "I activate Ape Magician's ability again! By discarding one card from my hand, I can take control of monsters. And I choose your Morphtronic Magnen Bar. Cursed Needle!" He discarded a card and Ape Magician took control of the magnet with its staff and placed on Devack's side of the field.

"Gotcha! With Magnen Bar on your side of the field, your monsters can't attack!" Leo cheered.

"Doesn't matter…" Devack said.

"Huh?" Leo asked confused.

"Because I'll release your Magnen Bar in order to advance summon my Ape Fighter!" Devack explained. The magnet bar disappeared and a muscular ape wearing black pants and grey helmet appeared (5) (ATK: 1900/DEF: 1200). "Ape Fighter, attack the boy's life points directly!" Devack ordered. He muscular ape jumped up and was about to punch Leo.

"Leo!" Trudge cried.

"I activate my trap! Remake Puzzle! During your battle phase, I can destroy a Morphtronic monster and end the battle phase immediately. Then I can special summon a Morphtronic monster in defense mode! So come back, Morphtronic Magnen Bar!" The U-magnet broke into pieces, went up to the air, and reconstructed itself into a bar while Ape Fighter went back to Devack's side of the field.

"Hey, not bad." Trudge commented.

"Fine, you saved yourselves from pain, but how long can you keep it up. I end my turn." Devack finished.

"Ore no ta-n!" Leo declared and drew a card from his deck. "Yes! I summon Morphtronic Celfon in mode!" A yellow cell phone appeared and transformed into a robot (1) (ATK: 100/DEF: 100). "Now I activate its special ability! Celfon chooses a number from one to six. Whatever number it chooses, I can check that many number of cards, and if there's a Morphtronic monster, I can summon it to the field! Dial On!" the cell phone's lights blinked for a few seconds until the light lights up the number three. "Awesome! I can check three cards!" Leo did just that checking the top three cards and he smiled when he saw the last card. "Yeah! Now I special summon Morphtronic Remoten in attack mode!" A white remote appeared and transformed (3) (ATK: 300/DEF: 1200).

"Oh? A Tuner is it?" Devack mused.

"Now I play the spell, Level Mirroring from my hand! I'll choose my Magnen Bar's level to be the same as Ape Magician's!" A mirror appeared showing the reflection of Ape Magician, went in front of the magnet bar and shattered into pixels.

Morphtronic Magnen Bar's level: 3

"Now I tune my level 1 Celfon, level 3 Magnen Bar with my level 3 Remoten!" Leo declared. The remote turned into three green rings while Magnen Bar and Celfon turned into three and one stars adding up to four. The stars lined up in the tunnel of rings.

"_Sekai no heiwa o mamoru tame, yuuki to chikara o dokkingu! Shinkuro Shoukan! Ai to seigi no shisha, Pawa Tsuru Doragon!"_

A beam of light shot out of the rings and Leo's signature yellow mechanical dragon with its blue shovel like arm and green flat head screwdriver like arm appeared (7) (ATK: 2300/DEF: 2500).

"Nice! Leo got a synchro monster out before Devack did!" Trudge said.

'_He's dueling while_ _carefully looking at his opponent's field. You're improving Leo.'_ Yusei thought.

"A toy dragon huh?" Devack chuckled. "A perfect fitting for an imitation Signer like yourself."

"Quit mocking me! Now I activate my dragon's ability! I randomly add an equip spell from my deck to my hand!" Leo said as his disk shuffled his deck and gave him a random equip spell. Leo took the card and looked at it. "Now I'll play the equip spell I randomly got! Break Draw! whenever my dragon destroys an opposing monster in battle, I get to draw a card. And after using its effect three times, I have to destroy it. Now Power Tool Dragon, attack his Ape Magician! Crafty Break!" Leo ordered. The mechanical dragon flew using its mechanical wings and crushed Ape Magician with its shovel like arm, destroying it into pixels. Devack shielded himself from the flying pixels.

**Devack:** 2500

**Leo:** 3200

"Now I draw a card due to Break Draw's effect." Leo said and drew a bonus card. "I end my turn. How'd you like that? Don't peg me for a chump just because I'm not a Signer!" Devack only chuckled at this.

"What's so funny?" Leo demanded.

"This is good. As the opening act to the battle derived by destiny, if this wasn't a tad bit entertaining. It would be disrespecting the gods.

"What do you mean 'opening act'? I'm fighting for my life here!"

"This duel shall be offered to our great god. Watashi no ta-n!" Devack said and drew his next card. He liked what he got. "I summon the Dark tuner, Dark Ape in attack mode!" A strange shaped small ape appeared (2) (ATK: 0/DEF: 0). Leo gasped at this.

"Dark Tuner?" Trudge exclaimed.

"Watch out Leo!" Yusei warned.

"Now I activate the spell Dark Wave! This causes my Ape Fighter's level to be negative."

Ape Fighter's level: -5

"Now I dark tune my level 2 Dark Ape with my now level negative level 5 Ape Fighter!" Devack said as Dark ape turned into 2 stars and went inside Ape Fighter. Ape Fighter turned into an outline of itself showing 5 black stars. The two stars turned black, the Ape Fighter outline disappeared and the seven black stars circled around each other.

"_Ankoku yori umareshi mono, banbutsu wo fu no sekai-he to izanau hasha tonare! Daaku Shinkuro! Araware o, Enmaou Zeman!"_ (1)

A pillar of dark light appeared and out came a maroon-furred muscular ape wearing royal like clothing holding a Minus Staff (-7) (ATK: 2500/DEF: 1800).

"Oh, and when Zeman the Ape King attacks, you can't activate any spell or traps card until the end of the battle phase." Devack said.

"S-Screw your Dark Synchro Monsters! That doesn't scare me!" Leo said starting to get a little bit nervous. "I have Power Tool Dragon on my side, after all!"

"Heh. When Dark Ape is used as material for a Dark Synchro, I can draw one card from my deck." Devack continued as he drew a bonus card. "Now I'll play the field spell, Closed Forest." He said as he placed the card in his field spell zone.

"This is bad! If a field spell is on there, all the requirements needed to summon an Earthbound Immortal is set!" Yusei said gritting his teeth. Roots started to grow out of the ground and soon a forest of trees with no leaves surrounded the playing field.

Back in the Spirit World…

A short while, once the monkey soldiers had spent a decent amount of time searching for Kurogasa and cleared off, the stone moved again and Kurogasa crawled out, following by a small black-haired boy in purple magician's robes.

"Well, at least we're safe for now." The kid mage said.

"No kidding. Thanks for helping me out." Kurogasa thanked. "I'm Kurogasa Kururugi."

"Kurogasa, eh? You must be the new Signer Ancient Fairy Dragon told me about. You're lucky that you ran into me, or who knows what would have happened if I hadn't been there to save you."

"Excuse me for being caught off-guard being inside the Spirit World!" Kurogasa protested. "Besides, I won't take lip from a little kid!"

"My name is Torunka, and really, I'm an old man." the boy replied…

"Really? I beg to differ." Kurogasa said in an unconvincing tone.

"It's true, I _am_!"

About half an hour later, after explaining to Torunka about the situation in the human world and his mission to save Luna, Kurogasa was preparing to leave the town with the Duel Spirit. As they ran away, the monkey soldiers chased them, but Kurogasa noticed a pile of stacked bottles nearby. He finally figured out the functions of the staffs and stopped to turn the needle on one of them and the bottles fell over, rolling down the street and tripping the monkeys over.

Outside the town, Torunka stopped, gasping for breath. "I can't… go any… further… This is just like last time when I helped Luna save Regulus… but we still got to make it to the place where we recovered him…"

"I'll carry you." Kurogasa replied, lifting him onto his back. Then he kept running on towards the forest where Torunka had said Regulus was hiding out.

"Wow… you're pretty strong." Torunka murmured. "Maybe stronger than Luna if you had more of me on your back…"

"Carry someone your size is easier compared to a guy my size." Kurogasa replied.

"You have the strength of a hero." the boy replied.

"I guess…"

After a while, they entered the forest and kept going. "Torunka, what happens to the spirits that get Minused?" Kurogasa asked.

"I don't know, but I think they go to the castle of Zeman the Ape King." the spirit replied.

Far away, a bleak castle of bare, jagged rock towered over the land.

Within the central throne room, upon a carved throne, sat Zeman the Ape King. He stood up and hurled one of the staffs, a Cursed Needle, down through a portal displaying the crag imprisoning Ancient Fairy Dragon, but upon striking the crag, the Needle shattered. Zeman snarled in frustration and punched his throne.

"I need more minus spirits to completely minus that accursed dragon…" he snarled to himself, and then turned to the cage holding Luna, who stared back in feared. "At least I have one part of the plan succeeded…"

Back to the duel…

Leo and Devack were surrounded by the dead trees and the duel is still on. "With Closed Forest on the field, Zeman the Ape King gains 100 attack points for every monster in my graveyard. I have five, so Zeman's attack points are now 3000.

Zeman the Ape King- (ATK: 3000/DEF: 1800)

"3000 attack points?" Leo cried.

"Now Zeman the Ape King, attack Power Tool Dragon! Cursed Flare!" Devack commanded. Zeman fired a fiery like beam at the dragon.

"I activate my Dragon's other ability! By destroying the equip spell card he's equipped with, I can negate its destruction!" Leo countered destroying Break Draw.

"But you'll still lose points!" Devack said. Leo was only hit with some of Zeman's attack as his life points were going down. He saw why because Power Tool Dragon in front of him and took the attack for him. It went on for a while until the attack stopped.

"Power Tool Dragon's… protecting me." Leo muttered.

**Devack:** 2500

**Leo:** 2500

"Power Tool, you okay?" Leo asked. The machine dragon for some reason nodded that it was okay. Leo was happy to hear it.

"Seems you held out somehow. I'll place two cards face down and end my turn." Devack concluded placing the reverse cards on the field.

"The real fight starts now! Ore no ta-n! Doro!" Leo drew his next card. _'I have to have a card that can beat Zeman.'_ Leo thought. "I activate Power Tool Dragon's effect! I randomly add an equip spell to my hand!" The disk shuffled his deck again and a card stuck out and Leo took it. 'Please, let it be the one.' Leo hoped and looked at it. He looked happy at what he got. "Yes, I play the equip spell, Megamorph!" Leo cheered equipping it to his machine dragon. "With this, I can-"

"Fool! Our life points are the same. If you plan on having Power Tool Dragon's attack points to be doubled, your life points have to be lower, but now our life points are the same, so the effect doesn't activate!" Devack laughed. It was then and there that Leo realized his mistake.

"Oh man! I completely forgot!" Leo said getting frustrated. "It was supposed to be the game changer! I'm out of options now! Arghh!"

"Hmph. It looks like that fate will not smile easily on someone who's not a Signer after all." Devack chuckled.

"Leo!" Yusei called. The Morphtronic Duelist looked to Yusei who was watching the duel. "Don't forget! The cards that poured your faith and wishes into are in that deck of yours! If you believe in your cards, they _will_ answer back! Just believe! The cards you took care of won't betray you!"

"Yusei…" Leo murmured and looked back at his hand. _'That's right. I can just negate Tool Dragon from being destroyed by removing the equip spell equipped to him.'_ Leo thought. "I switch Power Tool Dragon to defense mode and end my turn!" Leo finished as the Tool Dragon knelt on one knee and crossed its arms.

"To think, maintaining defense in this Shadow Duel, how foolish." Devack taunted.

'_I'll trust in my cards and wait for my chance, just like Yusei said.'_ Leo thought.

"Watashi no ta-n!" Devack said and drew a card. "Now Zeman the Ape King, attack his Power Tool Dragon again! Cursed Flare!" Zeman fired a fiery beam at the machine dragon yet again.

"Attack all you want, not only monster is in defense mode, but my equip spell will shield it!" Leo said.

"Then I'll activate the permanent trap, Roaring Earth!" Devack countered activating his trap. "When a Beast type monster attacks a monster in defense mode, I can do piercing damage!"

"What?" Leo gasped. As the Megamorph spell card was destroying protecting Power Tool Dragon for a while until it was shattered into pixels and Power Tool Dragon was hit along with Leo. The Morphtronic Duelist yelled in pain as some of the fiery beam got to him.

**Devack:** 2500

**Leo:** 2000

"But Power Tool Dragon can negate being destroyed by sending the equip spell it was equipped with to the graveyard!" Leo countered, but then he saw Power Tool Dragon still getting hit by the attack and some of its machine parts started to break.

"Wha? Power Tool is still being hurt? Why?" Leo asked.

"That's because in addition to piercing damage, the monster taking the attack loses 300 points in attack and defense." Devack explained as the attack finally stopped and Power Tool Dragon was smoking up a little bit.

Power Tool Dragon- (ATK: 2000/DEF: 2200)

"I'll place one card facedown and end my turn." Devack finished. "How pathetic. You remain on the field while you and your monster make an unsightly exhibition of yourselves." Leo looked up at Power Tool Dragon smiling sadly at him.

'_Thanks Power Tool. You took so much punishment to protect me.'_ Leo thought before turning back to face Devack. "I don't care how much I'm banged up! I'll protect Luna!"

In the Spirit World…

In the deepest and darkest part of the forest, Kurogasa and Torunka walked to a giant tree where a large, white-furred, armored lion with a horn on its forehead was sleeping.

"Regulus!" Torunka said in a relieved tone. "Wake up, we've got some help!"

"Wow, this is Regulus?" Kurogasa asked, amazed at the regal creature. "With how in tune this place is, Luna could have another monster in her deck."

"Regulus, I said we got some help!" the little mage shouted again. When he saw the golden eyes of the lion open up, he cringed and ran behind Kurogasa.

"You didn't have to yell, Torunka." Regulus growled as he stretched out his tiredness. "I've recovered enough to take on Zeman's army… so where's this help you were talking about?" Once he looked to Kurogasa, the Haos duelist sheepishly waved at him. "So, you are the new Signer that Ancient Fairy Dragon told me about… the one with the new mark…"

"Yeah… and what relationship do you have with Luna and Ancient Fairy Dragon?" the Haos duelist asked.

"I am a servant of Ancient Fairy Dragon." the lion replied. "Through her, I also serve Luna. I called her too in order to save Ancient Fairy Dragon, but I was a victim of the Minus Curse as well."

"Torunka told me the rest of the story." Kurogasa nodded. "We just now need to get Luna out of Zeman's clutches… do either of you know where the castle is?"

"Yes, but first we need to get our hands on one of those Cursed Needles those monkeys were carrying." the kid mage stated. "When we had to get Regulus, Luna said something about two Minus Curses cancelling each other out."

The Haos duelist smiled. "Of course; two Minuses make a Positive… and if Zeman has the power of the Minus Curse…"

"We can destroy him and his army to rescue Luna and Ancient Fairy Dragon." Regulus finished. "But I suspect they would try to recover the needles if they realize we could use it to our advantage."

"Well… I got an idea!" Torunka exclaimed.

Later, in the deserted city, the monkey army were collecting the cursed needles and then evacuating as quickly as possible. However, two monkeys were left behind as they saw another monster spirit appear in an alleyway before turning a corner. They laughed evilly as they held up their needles and ran down the alley after the spirit. But then, they were quickly taken by surprise as something grabbed them into the corner, bringing about fierce blows being landed on them. Once it was over, Torunka, Regulus and Kurogasa came out of hiding in the alleyway, with the latter two holding the cursed needles from their victims.

"Glad that plan worked." Kurogasa stated. "Now we just need to storm Zeman's castle."

Regulus carried Torunka and Kurogasa on his back, racing to Zeman's bleak castle. As it came into view, a beam of dark light ripped from it and smashed into the sun, creating an immense Cursed Needle. Instantly the sun went out, placing the land under perpetual night as the landmarks all around vanished, leaving a barren wasteland.

"Zeman!" Regulus roared. "He's behind this!"

"Then we better hurry to save Ancient Fairy Dragon and Luna… then they can restore this world and finish off the Monkey Mark Dark Signer." the Haos duelist murmured.

"Like…" Torunka pried. "We can't get in with all the guards walking around!"

Kurogasa looked around the castle gates and sure enough, there were about four monkey soldiers posted. "Yeah, even if we were to shut those guys up, our fight would cause a commotion and bring the entire army out."

"There's only one way to get inside…" Regulus stated. "And that's to give them what they want…"

Before the little mage could freak out, the Haos Duelist had a look of acknowledgment. "I got ya…"

Inside the castle:

"King Zeman!" a monkey soldier reported. "Regulus has been captured… but not by our forces. A traveler has somehow subdued him and brought him to you."

"Let them in." Zeman commanded. Kurogasa walked into the room, wearing black hooded robes and a red scarf across his face with a black symbol (A/N: the Darkus Bakugan Symbol), wielding a staff that was really the Cursed Needle disguised by some bandages. He was followed by Torunka and a cage pushed by several monkeys, the cage containing a weakened Regulus who looked roughed up and could barely stand. He notably stared at Kurogasa with a malice-filled glare. The Signer and Duel Spirit bowed to Zeman, seeing the stone tablets lining the walls.

From her cage, Luna was horrified seeing the sleeping Duel Spirit imprisoned. _'Oh no, this is the worst thing that can happen!'_ She then did a double-take and saw Torunka with his magician's hat covering most of his face, leaving his mouth visible. _'Torunka?'_

The little mage looked towards the cage Luna and snuck an assuring wink at her, letting her know everything was okay, which made her happy, but she made sure not to express it and keep playing the damsel in distress.

"A traveler." Zeman mused, staring at the disguised duo. "Tell me, how did you subdue the mighty Regulus when my army could not?"

"Rather than tell you, I'll show you…" Kurogasa stated as he looked to the disguised Torunka. "Wake him up…"

"Yes master." Torunka said as he took out a key and opened up the door to the cage. The monkeys were completely on edge and readied their Cursed Needles. Zeman didn't voice it, but his eyes said otherwise. Noticing the uneasiness, Kurogasa raised a hand…

"Stay calm…" He assured them. "Regulus's strength couldn't even match me…"

"Only because you took me out without facing me! But now that's changed!" Regulus shouted and started running towards the disguised Haos Duelist and jumped out of the cage ready to pounce and claw at his opponent.

"You lack skill." Kurogasa said jumping to the side as Regulus was still in the air and the disguised Haos Duelist grabbed Regulus by the horn and under his neck, catching the lion in the air and delivered an RKO, staged enough for Regulus to feign unconsciousness when he hit the ground.

"How remarkable." Zeman murmured. "Soldiers, place a Minus Curse upon Regulus!"

"I wouldn't recommend it." Kurogasa interjected. "My servant has already placed a curse on Regulus; he won't bother you but your curse would cancel it out and destroy him. And by my account of things here, you'd rather have him in a stone tablet to completely have Ancient Fairy Dragon minused…"

"Then what do you suggest I do?" the Ape King snarled. "Simply having him perform tricks in a cage is no use to me!"

"The only way to minus Ancient Fairy Dragon is to unseal her, and then minus both her and Regulus at once." Torunka said. "With Ancient Fairy Dragon unsealed, Regulus can be freed from his curse without destroying anything." Zeman stared at the disguised dup for a while with them staring back at them, and then stood and strode over to the portal showing the imprisoned Ancient Fairy Dragon.

"Very well, then. I shall trust what you say. Rise, Ancient Fairy Dragon!" he commanded, raising his Cursed Needle over the portal.

Back in the human world…

"Ore no ta-n!" Leo declared and drew a card. I activate the effect of Power Tool Dragon!" I randomly add a equip spell to my hand!" he shouted as his duel disk shuffled the cards and a card stuck out. He took the card out and Leo's eyes lit up as saw what he had and added to his hand…

In the Spirit World, Zeman extended his Cursed Needle over the portal.

"But, if you are lying, then you shall pay dearly." he warned Kurogasa and Torunka as he turned the Cursed Needle. The rocky, fossilized form of Ancient Fairy Dragon began to rise from the crag…

"Bring Regulus to me!" the Ape King commanded. Kurogasa grabbed Regulus by the horn and dragged him up to the portal. Torunka began to dance, and as he did so, tripped over his robes and fell, knocking Kurogasa over and accidentally turning the Minus Needle and revealing their identities.

Luna gasped in happiness but then in horror seeing the predicament in front of her. "Kurogasa! Torunka!"

"Ha, Zeman!" the boy laughed. "You fell for it! We're here to save Ancient Fairy Dragon, and you were a buffoon to believe us! Ha… oops…" the boy realized what he just said.

"Idiot…" Kurogasa hissed placing his hand over his eyes shaking his head in embarrassment. Zeman trembled with anger.

"Soldiers, seize the liars!" he roared, turning his Cursed Needle back over to reseal Ancient Fairy Dragon.

"Oh no…!" Kurogasa shouted as he knocked over some attacking monkeys and threw a nearby rock and threw it at the Ape King. Seeing this, Zeman immediately used his staff.

"No!" Regulus woke up from his feigned sleep and roared, pouncing forwards and smashing the monkey soldiers aside. He snatched up Kurogasa's Cursed Needle and leapt for Zeman…

Back at the duel…

"Now I switch Power Tool Dragon to attack mode!" Leo started as the dragon switched modes. Then I play the equip Power Tool Dragon with Double Tool C&D! Giving my dragon 1000 attack points!" Leo retorted. The drill and circular saw instantly replaced Power Tool's shovel and jackhammer as it shone with radiant power.

Power Tool Dragon- (ATK: 3500/DEF: 2200)

"So, you just lined up its attack power with Zeman's huh?" Devack asked. "In the eyes of a non-Signer such as yourself, that bit of nothing is the very best you have?"

"Power Tool Dragon, attack Zeman the Ape King with Crafty Break!" Power Tool Dragon surged forwards towards Zeman.

"Settling for a draw huh?" Devack asked, but then realized it. "Unless…"

"That's right! Power tool won't be destroyed as long as it has an equip spell on him!" Leo cheered as the dragon collided into Zeman with an explosion of power as they met…

In the Spirit World, Regulus roared and leapt at Zeman, the two colliding in a blaze of energy that obliterated Zeman's monkey soldiers.

"This isn't over!" Zeman howled as he was obliterated by the energy. Kurogasa, Luna, and Torunka were protected by the Marks of the Crimson Dragon as this continued to happen. "Devack shall inherit the power of the Minus Curse…" Then he shattered, as did his real-world counterpart…

Back at the duel…

"Yeah! I did it! And thanks to releasing Double Tool, Power Tool Dragon gets to stick around a while longer!" Leo said as Devack shielded himself as Zeman the Ape King exploded in a fiery blaze. Power Tool Dragon's drill and circular saw also shattered in its wake.

Power Tool Dragon- (ATK: 2000/DEF: 2200)

"Yes! Leo finally got rid of that Dark Synchro Monster!" Trudge cheered.

"It's not over yet though." Yusei said. It was then and there that Devack chuckled.

"What're you laughing about?" Leo demanded.

"I activate the trap, Dark Matter! When a synchro monster is destroyed on my field, it sets two cards from the top cards from the top of my deck, treating them as monsters." Devack said as he took the two top cards from the top of his deck and placed them faced down in defense mode. Two reverse monsters appeared in front of him.

"I end my turn there by equipping Power Tool Dragon with Power Converter." Leo finished. A big machine appeared and was equipped on to the machine dragon's back.

Back in the Spirit World… (A/N: Geez, going back and forth is tiring…)

Luna was standing amongst the rubble of what once was the throne room of Zeman.

"Kurogasa! Torunka! Regulus!" Luna called.

"Ohh…" A voice groaned. Kurogasa turned around to see Kurogasa dusting himself off. "*cough*, *cough*. Geez Regulus, blow up the entire castle why don't ya?" Kurogasa said sarcastically coughing from the dust the place was making.

"Kurogasa!" Luna cried happily as she ran over to him and hugged him.

"Hey Luna." He greeted. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, but… how did you get here?" She asked as the girl broke the embrace.

"Well, long story short, my Mark has the power to link with everyone elses. Well, one at a time that is. At least that's what Ancient Fairy Dragon told me."

"Ancient Fairy Dragon?" Luna asked.

"Yep. I was surprised too when I heard that. She was also the one that called me out of the blue to help you out." Suddenly, several figures appeared in the sky and they came down to the rubble. Luna got behind Kurogasa and Kurogasa was about to fight, but then they lowered their guard when they saw that it was the Kurogasa's seven synchro monsters.

"Hey guys!" Kurogasa waved.

"Missed us?" Leonidas asked.

"Are you two alright?" Nemus asked.

"Yes, we're fine. I take it that you took care of those monkeys." Kurogasa asked.

"Yes." Lars Lion answered.

"They were no match for us. Pretty annoying when those guys keep coming at ya." Lumagrowl said.

"Aren't those-" Luna spoke.

"Yep, my synchro monsters." Kurogasa finished for her. "I'm surprised they can talk."

"I'm glad you two are alright Lord Kurogasa and Lady Luna." Aranaut said.

"Let's just hope that's the last of those monkeys." Contestir groaned tiredly.

"With Zeman gone, they won't be showing up anytime soon." Tigrerra said.

"Well, you can come back to the deck and rest. You've earned it." Kurogasa said. The Haos monsters then turned into light and went back into his deck.

"Good grief, finally I'm back to my old self." An older voice said. Kurogasa and Luna turned to see Dark Sage in front of them. "Kurogasa, Luna, you aren't hurt, are you?"

"No, but who are _you_?" Kurogasa asked blankly. This caused the Dark Sage to fall over anime style.

"Why you little whippersnapper! It's me, Torunka!" The Dark Sage snapped. Luna and Kurogasa looked at him again and then realized it.

"You're Torunka?" Luna asked.

"Wow. You really _are_ an old man." Kurogasa said.

"And you didn't believe me the first time." Torunka grumbled. "Kids these days… they never respect their elders."

"Alright, alright, I believe you now." Kurogasa said raising his hands in defense.

"Does that mean the Minus Curse has lifted?" Luna asked.

"Mm-hm." Torunka answered.

"Luna. Kurogasa." A voice called. They turned to see Regulus coming towards them.

"Regulus." Kurogasa and Luna recognized.

"Are you alright Regulus?" Torunka asked.

"Yes. It seems that Zeman has been obliterated."

"Really? Where's ancient Fairy then?" Luna asked.

"Well, I don't see her anywhere…"

"No way…"

"And those stone tablets should've been gone. The spirits haven't gone back to normal either." Kurogasa noticed looking around seeing the stone tablets.

"Hey, you're right." Luna noticed. "But the curse is lifted. So why?" Luna asked. She then remembered what Zeman said. "Wait, Zeman said that the curse was sent to Devack."

"If that's true, then we need to get back to the real world." The Haos Duelist stated.

Back to the duel…

"Watashi no ta-n!" Devack shouted and drew a card. You know, I got to thank you for destroying Zeman." Devack thanked.

"What?" Leo asked confused.

"Thanks to you, I can now summon this! HAHAHAHAHA!" Devack said revealing the card he drew which was the Earthbound Immortal.

"Oh no!" Yusei cried.

"I Release my face-down monsters to Advance Summon…!" The two monsters (Ape Magician and Ape Fighter) faded into rainbow light that rose into the skies and formed into an Earthbound Immortal heart…

"Oh no!" Leo cried.

"Don't worry, as the competitor, your soul won't be taken. I got more than enough sacrifices!" Devack rejoiced.

"_Seirei no tamashi wo ikenieni! Kourinseyo! Jibakushin Kushiru!"_ (2)

"Here it comes!" Yusei cried as the purple flames intensified.

In the Spirit World, Luna, Kurogasa, Regulus, and Torunka in his true age, watched as the Monkey Nazca Line appeared upon the storm clouds above, and purple soul-lights flew from the sealed spirits within the stone tablets to it.

"The spirits' soul!" Regulus cried.

"They're being sucked into the geoglyph! Devack is going to awaken his Earthbound Immortal!" Kurogasa cringed.

Back at the duel…

The Immortal's heart began to beat, before exploding in a column of purple fire… The Immortal rose from the flames with a roar, a gigantic, emaciated black monkey with yellow geoglyph symbols running across its form (10) (ATK: 2800/DEF: 2800).

"Oh man!" Leo gasped.

"Now thanks to Closed Forest, with now eight monsters in the graveyard, my Immortal gains 800 attack points. Then it glowed as Closed Forest activated.

Earthbound Immortal Cusillu- (ATK: 3600/DEF: 2800)

"Now, Earthbound Immortal Cusillu, end this farce! Attack him directly!" Cusillu roared and drew back a fist to throw a punch that would crush Leo…

"I use the effect of Power Converter, sending it to the graveyard to reduce Power Tool Dragon's points to zero and gain back that many Life Points!" Leo shouted. Power Converter shattered and he glowed with energy as Power Tool Dragon groaned.

Power Tool Dragon- (ATK: 0/DEF: 2200)

**Devack:** 2500

**Leo:** 4000

Then he screamed as Cusillu's fist smashed down, sending him crashing back…

**Devack:** 2500

**Leo:** 600

"I…I can't lose." Leo said weakly. "If I'm finished off here… Luna… she'll… Luna, she'll…"

"Leo!" Luna screamed as she heard his cry of agony from the geoglyph.

"Man, Leo must've been fighting really hard." Kurogasa said getting worried. Just then, the four of them suddenly rose in the air and were getting sucked into the geoglyph. "Great, now _we're_ the ones that's gonna be sucked into the Geoglyph!"

"At this rate, the Spirit World will be confined in eternal darkness!" Regulus exclaimed.

"Leave it to me. I shall use the last of my power to send Luna and Kurogasa back to their own world!" Torunka said. "It's up to you Luna. Defeat the Earthbound Immortal!"

"The fate of the Spirit World rests in your hands Luna." Regulus said.

"Regulus… Torunka…" Luna murmured. The lion turned to Kurogasa.

"Help her out in any way you can."

"I will." Kurogasa said. And with that, Torunka used his staff and his casted his magic at the two Signers and both were engulfed in an orb of light. "Hang on Luna!" He said as they held each other while being in the orb of light. Then the orb of light soon touched the ground.

"What's that?" Trudge asked seeing the orb of light. When it faded, Yusei saw who was in it.

"It's Luna, and… Kurogasa?" Yusei asked confused.

"Huh? What's _he_ doing with here with Luna?" Trudge asked confused as well.

Kurogasa and Luna ran up to Leo.

"Leo!" she cried. "Say something, Leo!"

"Luna…" Leo murmured. "You came back huh?" He then noticed the Haos Duelist next to her. "Kurogasa?"

"Hey kid. How you doing?" Kurogasa smirked.

"You fought, getting hurt this bad? Even though you faced against a Dark Signer…" Luna said.

"Luna…" he groaned weakly smiling sadly. "I wanted to… beat Devack before… you got back… I knew… I couldn't play the hero…"

"Don't say that!" Luna suddenly said causing Leo to look at her. "That's not true…" she replied, hugging him tightly. "You've got the bravery of a _true_ hero." She sobbed. That got Leo crying too.

"So the gang is reunited." Devack laughed. "Well, Signer, you _too_ shall fall prey to Cusillu!" The Earthbound Immortal roared its fury.

"You were the one who was controlling Zeman and collecting the spirits all along!" she shouted. "I'll never forgive you! For hurting the spirits and the one person I hold most dear!" With that, she took up Leo's Duel Disk.

"I should keep going, Luna…" Leo groaned.

"Relax, Leo. You've done enough." Kurogasa said. "You did good softening him up a bit. Now just leave the rest to Luna."

"Besides, you fought hard for me, now I'll fight hard for you." She stood up and her Mark of the Dragon blazed brightly on her arm. Yusei's and Kurogasa's marks soon glowed as well.

"Hehehehe… even life points on the same level as cinders will be ample tribute and should suffice. Allow me to show my respects to you, young Signer, by summoning a very special spirit." Devack chuckled. "I activate my Cursed Prison trap card! This will special summon one synchro monster to my field, ignoring summoning conditions."

"He doesn't mean…" Kurogasa said to himself not liking where this is going.

"I special summon your Ancient Fairy Dragon in defense mode!" Devack said. Luna gasped in horror as the trap card glowed and the prison appeared with Ancient fairy Dragon bound inside with chains entangling it inside (7) (ATK: 2100/DEF: 3000).

"Ancient Fairy!" Luna cried.

"I'll end my turn. So, how does it feel to face the very same dragon you are linked to by the bonds of fate as an enemy?" Devack asked as Power Tool Dragon's attack points went back to 2000.

'_Ancient Fairy, just hold on. Me and Leo are gonna save you.'_ Luna thought. Out loud… "Watashi no ta-n!" Luna declared and drew a card. "I activate Power Tool Dragon's effect! I randomly get an equip spell from the deck and add it to my hand. Luna did just that. "Next I activate the equip spell Central Shield and equip it to Power Tool Dragon!" A red U-shaped shield appeared in front of the machine dragon and seven circles surrounded the shield also.

"Nice! With that on the field, if Cusillu attacks anything else other than the equipped monster, it'll be all for naught and Devack can't attack directly. Nice one Luna!" Kurogasa complimented.

"I'll place two facedowns and end my turn." Luna concluded placing the reverse cards on the field.

"Looks like you can't destroy Ancient Fairy dragon after all. But my Earthbound Immortal isn't limited to just attacking directly. As you wish, I will crush that toy dragon of yours. Watashi no ta-n! Doro!" Devack declared and drew a card. "Earthbound Immortal Cusillu, attack Power Tool Dragon!" Devack ordered. The giant monkey raised its fist and went for Power Tool Dragon.

"I activate the quick-play spell, Limiter Removal! It doubles the attack of a Machine type monster on my field!" Luna countered.

Power Tool Dragon- (ATK: 4000/DEF: 2200)

"Double?" Devack roared as the monkey punched the machine dragon, but wasn't harmed. It caused a huge tremor sending a huge of dust on the playing. Devack shielded himself while Kurogasa shielded the twins. It soon died out and Kurogasa let go of the twins.

"You guys okay?" Kurogasa asked.

"We're fine." The twins responded. When the dust cleared…

"Damn you, you who dare defied such God-like power!" Devack roared.

**Devack:** 2100

**Leo/Luna:** 400

"But my Immortal will not falter. By selecting a monster on a field and sending it to the graveyard, I can negate its destruction and halve your life points! That's why I summoned your Ancient Fairy Dragon on purpose! So now I release Ancient Fairy Dragon!" The said dragon disappeared from the cage, the cage was destroyed, and Luna was surrounded by a circle of light and it was hurting her. She screamed in pain as this happened.

**Devack:** 2100

**Leo/Luna:** 200

Luna started to collapse until Leo caught her. "Luna!"

"You okay?" The Haos Duelist asked.

"I'm fine." Luna assured him. "Because now the real fight starts."

"Real fight?" Devack asked confused.

"I knew you were going to send Ancient Fairy Dragon to the graveyard right from the start. So now you're going to give back my dear friend to me! I activate the permanent trap, Respect Synchron! When a synchro monster goes to graveyard via an opponent's card effect, ignoring summoning conditions, I can special summon it to my side of the field!"

"What?" Devack roared as a portal opened on the ground and Ancient Fairy dragon rose from the ground, still in chains, that is until the spirit of Regulus broke the chains setting her free before disappearing. Ancient Fairy's wings spread out and let out a roar.

"Yeah! You did it Luna! You freed Ancient Fairy Dragon!" Leo cheered.

"Ancient Fairy, we finally get to meet!" Luna said happy.

"_Luna, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for saving me and keeping the promise you made so long ago. Thank you so much."_ Ancient Fairy thanked. She then turned to the Haos duelist. _"And thank you Kurogasa, for rescuing Luna. None of this would be possible if it weren't for you."_

"It's the least I could do, Ancient Fairy." Kurogasa responded.

"So, that's Luna's dragon huh? She's beautiful." Trudge said.

"Yeah. Still, this duel is not over yet." Yusei reminded Trudge.

"Now back to duel. Normally, Limiter removal destroys the machine monster, but if I remove Central Shield from Power Tool Dragon. It's not going anywhere." Luna said as Central Shield disappeared.

"Hmph. Fine, so you got Ancient Fairy Dragon back, doesn't matter because on my next turn, I'll finish you off!" Devack growled.

"I wouldn't count on that! Let's do this together Leo! You ready?"

"Yeah! Let's do it Luna!" Leo answered.

"Ore tachi no ta-n!" (3) Leo and Luna said in unison and drew the card together. "We activate Ancient Fairy Dragon's special ability! By destroying a field spell, we gain 1000 life points! And we destroy Closed Forest!" Luna said.

"No! You can't!" Devack gasped as the dead trees shattered to pixels and disappeared one by one until there were none and Cusillu's attack points went back to normal.

Earthbound Immortal Cusillu- (ATK: 2800/DEF: 2800)

**Devack:** 2100

**Leo/Luna:** 1200

"Awesome! And with no field spell, Cusillu's effect is negated and is vulnerable!" Kurogasa smiled.

"Now Power Tool Dragon's effect activates! We add one random equip spell to our hand!" Leo said and the disk shuffled the deck for a couple of seconds before a card stuck out. Leo then took it. "Now we play the equip spells, Rocket Pilder and Pain to Power! Rocket Pilder goes to Power Tool and Pain to Power goes to Ancient Fairy!" a white stole hung on Ancient Fairy Dragon's neck and a big rocket attached to Power Tool Dragon's arm.

"Now Power Tool Dragon, attack Earthbound Immortal Cusillu!" Luna commanded.

"You _do_ realize what you're doing right?" Devack asked as Power Tool Dragon flew towards the big monkey and hit it in the chest with the rocket. There was an explosion that almost sent everyone in the dueling area flying. Kurogasa shielded the twins from the blast.

**Devack:** 2100

**Leo/Luna:** 400

"Hmph. And what did you accomplish from that? You went on and attacked and destroyed Power Tool Dragon for no reason." Devack laughed, but stopped laughing when he saw the machine dragon still there. "But how? He's supposed to be destroyed!"

"Try reading the card Devack." Kurogasa said letting go of the twins. "Any monster equipped with Rocket Pilder can't be destroyed in battle. Not only that, your monkey's attack points decreased by Power Tool Dragon's attack points when it attacked." Devack looked at his big monkey and saw there was a big hole in its chest.

Earthbound Immortal Cusillu- (ATK: 800/DEF: 2800).

"Impossible!" Devack yelled in disbelief.

"Oh, it's possible alright. And thanks to Pain to Power, the damage we received now gets added to Ancient Fairy Dragon's attack points!" Luna said. The white stole glowed with energy as Ancient Fairy Dragon's attack points went up.

Ancient Fairy Dragon- (ATK: 2900/DEF: 3000)

"And that's more than enough to take you down Devack!" Leo said.

"Ancient Fairy Dragon, attack Earthbound Immortal Cusillu with Eternal Sunshine!" The twins said in unison. Ancient Fairy dragon rose up in the air, its wings glowed in different colors and then it shined its light and it was bright as the sun itself. Cusillu soon disappeared and Devack was blown away by the intensity of the light, screaming as his life points depleted.

**Devack:** 0

**Leo/Luna:** 400

The duel disks deactivated, the holograms faded, and the purple flames of the Monkey Geoglyph extinguished.

"You did it Luna!" Leo cheered.

"No Leo, _we_ did it." Luna corrected.

"You…" Devack groaned. Everyone looked to see Devack creeping towards the twins. "You think… you've won? This isn't over! I'm not going down alone. You're coming with me!" Devack said creeping even closer to the twins. Leo got in front of Luna to protect her. "You… will not stop the shadows from devouring… this world… for I will… destroy you… I will… drag you down to the Netherworld!"

"Oh, shuddup!" Kurogasa snapped giving him a Sweet Chin Music to the chin and Yusei got the twins out of there.

"Glory… to the Dark Signers…" Devack muttered flying backwards from the kick Kurogasa made before turning black and fading into dust.

Back in the Spirit World…

The Monkey Geoglyph disappeared from the sky and the Duel Monster spirits returned to the tablets and got out of it.

"She did it! Luna defeated the Earthbound Immortal!" Torunka cheered with the other spirits cheering as well.

Back in the real world, the sun started to rise.

"You alright Luna?" Trudge asked.

"Yes, I'm fine."

"Hey Leo." Yusei said kneeling on one knee at his level. "Good job out there." He said giving a small smile. That got Leo's eyes watering and wiped it away.

"Luna." A voice called. They turned to see a faint image of Ancient Fairy Dragon and Regulus in front of them.

"Ancient Fairy, Regulus!" Luna acknowledged.

"Huh? The Solid Vision hasn't gone all away yet?" Trudge asked confused.

"_No. What you see before you is not an illusion."_ Ancient Fairy Dragon answered.

"Then, they're real?" Trudge asked shocked before he fainted.

"This is why adults are hopeless." Leo sighed sweat dropping at this.

"_Luna, you fought well. We have you to thank for saving the Spirit World from darkness."_ Ancient Fairy Dragon continued. _"The spirits captured by the Earthbound Immortal have finally been freed and were able to return home safely."_

"You mean they're rescued?" Luna asked happily.

"_Yes. Thank you Luna. And thank you too Kurogasa for supporting Luna."_

"Like I said, it's the least I can do." Kurogasa said.

"But, it wasn't all thanks to me. It was thanks to Leo and Yusei who supported me also." Luna said.

"_Then I thank you too Leo and Yusei."_

"Ancient Fairy Dragon, will you fight the Dark Signers with us?" Yusei asked.

"_Yes. If the Dark Signers are left unchecked, then the Spirit World would be in danger again. I will fight by your side until the end. Even if it means fighting until it ends my life."_

"_Likewise for me. I will fight until my life ends."_ Regulus said. And with that, the two monsters glowed and went into Luna's hand turning into cards.

"Ancient Fairy Dragon… Regulus…" Luna smiled gently looking at the cards.

"Oh crap!" Kurogasa said suddenly. That got the attention of Yusei and the Twins.

"What is it?" Yusei asked.

"My duel runner's back at the backup generator before I got sent to the Spirit World. Aw man, now I have to run all the way there to get it." Kurogasa groaned.

"_Not to worry my boy."_ A voice called. They turned around and saw where the voice came from.

"Torunka!" Luna recognized.

"_Hello there Luna."_ The Dark Sage greeted before turning to Kurogasa. _"If you wanted your duel runner, all you have to do was ask. Although I may not do that because you didn't believe I was really an old man. Yes, that's sounds like a good idea, I'll let you run all the way there to get it just for my own amusement."_ Torunka smiled impishly.

"Oh come on!" Kurogasa whined.

"_Just kidding."_ Torunka laughed all hearty. "_Oh kids these days… always so serious._" He sighed. With a wave of his staff, the duel runner suddenly appeared next to Yusei's.

"Awesome, thanks Torunka!"

"_No problem. See ya."_ Torunka said and with that he disappeared.

WOO! Another long chapter up, so get to reviewing people!

(1)- The one born from the darkness, become the supreme ruler who shall lead all of creation into the negative world! Dark Synchro! Appear now, Demonic Monkey King Zeman!

(2)- I sacrifice the souls of these spirits! Advent, Earthbound God Cusillu!

(3)- It's our turn!


	38. Chapter 35: For the People

Ughh… I hate writer's block. Anyways, time for another chapter of Stardust Accelerator: Rise of the Earthbounds! Here we go!

Disclaimer: Same thing.

Chapter 35: For the People

Yusei, Kurogasa, and Twins Leo and Luna, went into the control tower and saw a pedestal there. On it was the engraving of a monkey with a card space in the middle. "This is what I had to do when I went inside the backup generator. I had to place the card in the empty space on that pedestal in order to seal it." Kurogasa said. Luna nodded at this. She then placed the Ancient Fairy Dragon card on the empty space and then the pedestal glowed.

"Ok… so _now_ what?" Leo asked. He got his answer when the tower started to shake.

"_Now_ we get out of here!" Kurogasa said and with that, Luna took the card and then the four of them managed to get out of there. They watched as the doors to the tower closed and then it sank to the ground never to be seen again. Trudge groaned and woke up, glancing around. "Huh… they've disappeared… I must have been hallucinating…"

"That's one tower down." Kurogasa stated.

"And three more to go." Yusei added. "Kurogasa, if you don't mind me asking, how and why the heck were you with Luna?"

"Yeah, I'm kinda confused on that myself." Trudge said.

"Me too. How come you were with Luna?" Leo asked.

"Well…" Kurogasa began. He then explained everything on what happened.

"Really? Your Mark of the Crimson Dragon can link with one of ours?" Yusei asked.

"Well, one at a time, but yeah, that's pretty much it. At least, that's what Ancient Fairy Dragon told me. That's how I was able to get in to the Spirit World and help out Luna." Kurogasa explained.

"I see."

"I was kinda surprised when I first found out about that."

"So, I take it that you took out those two Dark Signers you said you were going to face." Yusei said. Kurogasa was stunned a little bit, but then relaxed.

"Um… yeah…" Kurogasa looking away a little bit sad.

"Who were those Dark Signers you faced?" Yusei asked.

"I'd… rather not say…" Kurogasa muttered. Yusei looked at him for a while. He knew there was something Kurogasa's not saying, but he decided to not pry any further about it.

"Okay."

"So, where to now?" The Haos Duelist asked.

"The Giant Tower. It's time that Kalin and I finally settled our score." Yusei said as he looked in the direction where the Giant Tower was. "Kalin… I'm coming for you…"

Meanwhile, Roman sat in a chair at a long table and in silence at the Old Enerdy Reactor, staring at a six-pronged candlestick, which carried six lit candles. As he watched, three of those candles went out. He gave an angry glare at the candles in question. "So… Devack and that new Signer's parents are gone, eh? You'll pay Signers…" he snarled, standing and picking up the candlestick as he walked away. He walked to a cell and wrenched the door open, revealing Greiger, who was sat on the bed within. "Come out." the Spider Dark Signer said. The two soon stood upon a gantry within the Enerdy Reactor. Below them, a swirling pool of rainbow light cast its radiance up to them, the light of Enerdy illuminating the two.

"Greiger." Roman began. "During the Fortune Cup tournament, you planned to assassinate my brother, Rex Goodwin. Due to the nature of your crime, as punishment, you are to be executed. The sentence shall be carried out now!"

"What's this?" Greiger asked.

"They are called the 'Doors to the Underworld.' These doors lead to the land of the dead.

"Doors to the Underworld?" Greiger repeated.

"Yes. You are now ready to die and be reborn a Dark Signer."

"Dark Signer?"

"The flames of vengeance must still be blazing within your heart. Let those memories come back. Of your siblings who were burned to nothingness. Of your homeland that was purged by flames. All of that was the work of my brother Goodwin and the Crimson Dragon. Greiger's eyes darkened as he remembered the footage, watching his village being torn apart by the energies unleash

"That's right… my brother and sister…" Greiger said clenching his fist tight remembering everything. "I won't let him get away with this!"

"Yes." Roman smirked as he walked away from Greiger. "May you die embracing that sorrow, and gain newfound power!" He then pressed a switch. A trapdoor opened below Greiger, sending him falling down towards the Enerdy, but before he hit, a noose of spider thread caught around his throat like a hangman's rope, suspending him there above the rainbow liquid.

"If the flames of hatred have not died yet, then hearken to my voice!" Roman called. "I'm giving you one more chance at seeking vengeance against my brother. But to do that, you must first defeat Yusei Fudo! Now, be reborn as a Dark Signer!" He laughed evilly and a fountain of Enerdy erupted from the pool and consumed Greiger with Roman still laughing…

On the other side of Satellite, a refrigerator burst open and Crow staggered from it weakly towards the Blackbird, which was on its side nearby. He remembered diving into the refrigerator to escape the black fog after his duel with Lazar who was sneaking around Satellite. They dueled they were tied until the black fog came in. As he staggered forwards, he fell to his knees with a groan, before forcing himself to stand and mounting the Runner.

As he rode through the empty streets of Satellite, he was struck by the silence and emptiness. "Everyone's… gone… Well, not really, because the kids are back at Martha's place, so they're safe." Crow said as he continued onwards to his hideout, to the Daedalus Bridge, and dismounted Blackbird. He stood atop the bridge, looking out at Satellite, as lightning struck across the sky, he saw the Giant Nazca Line. "That must be where a Dark Signer is… Watch out! Because Crow "The Bullet" Hogan is coming for you!" He yelled and he jumped onto his duel runner and shot off down the bridge. A few minutes has passed while Crow rode through Satellite and then he noticed a rather large duel runner, one Crow recognized. It was Greiger, who was now reborn as a Dark Signer, with a mark similar to Kalin's but on the left side of his face. And his huge duel runner was redesigned with geoglyph patterns across the bodywork and new spiked axels. The outlaw Satellite ramped his Duel Runner over some rubble, crashing down and skidding to a halt in Greiger's path, forcing the Dark Signer to bring The Beast to a stop.

"Yusei?" Greiger shouted.

"Sorry to disappoint, but I'm not Yusei! "But I know who you are, Greiger! How could you've joined the Dark Signers?" Crow snapped angrily.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Crow, and in Yusei's stead, I challenge you to a duel!"

"You're not a Signer, are you?" Greiger asked.

"So what if I'm not! You Dark Signers stole all those people's souls just so you can wreak havoc using your Earthbound Immortals! And you're going to pay for it!" Crow snarled.

"Make me pay?" Greiger asked. "I shall make _him _pay. I will seek vengeance on Goodwin by any means necessary! Even if it means going through a path of bloodshed! My murdered siblings made me choose this path!"

"No point in us arguing then." Crow stated. "You'll beat Yusei, once you beat _me_!"

"I'm not going to duel a non-Signer, like you." Greiger refused. Crow took something from his pocket and clamped it onto his runner.

"You're accepting this duel, whether you like it or not. With this timer, if you don't accept, we'll both go down. And don't even think about running, because I'll follow ya wherever you're going."

"Hmph…Very well. I see you're mentally prepared. Just one warning, once the Shadow Duel starts, there will be no turning back, and the loser shall lose their soul."

"Heh. Fine by me. In that case, let's raise the stakes. We duel without auto-pilot!" This shocked Greiger a little bit, but nodded agreeing to this_. 'Those Earthbound Immortals the Dark Signers use… the only way to counter their attacks is to use your own riding techniques.'_ Crow said remembering Yusei's duel with Kalin. With this, Crow and Greiger drove on their runners for a while until they found a good spot to turbo duel. "Let's go!" Crow said.

"FI-RUDO MAHO! SUPIDO WARUDO! SETTO ON!" Greiger said pressing a button on his runner.

"**DUEL MODE. AUTO-PILOT OFF. STAND BY."**

The words 'DUEL MODE' appeared on both screens then showed the playing field on their screens. A purple aura shot out of both runners showing they are in Speed World and the purple flames surrounded them.

Meanwhile, Yusei, Kurogasa, the Twins and Trudge were on their way to the Giant Tower, until they saw a new geoglyph in the sky. It was in the shape of a killer whale.

"Look at that!" Luna cried pointing at the geoglyph.

"I see it. It's the Killer Whale Geoglyph." Kurogasa said.

"Hold on. There's not supposed to be a Killer Whale geoglyph." Trudge said.

"Does this mean a new Dark Signer cropped up? But it's strange though. Our marks are not throbbing for some reason." Yusei noticed.

"Does that mean a non-Signer is dueling a Dark Signer?" Leo asked.

"Most likely. In any case, we need to hurry. I just hope that whoever is dueling that Dark Signer is not making any hasty decisions." Yusei said pressing on the pedal of his runner going fast with Kurogasa and everyone else following.

Back with Crow and Greiger…

"When we turn off the Auto-pilot, whoever is first around that corner gets the first turn." Crow said, gesturing to the corner ahead.

"Very well. How should we start?" Greiger asked.

"We start when the timer on this reaches zero." Crow said, pulling the 'bomb' from his Runner and threw it to the ground. "Relax; it was just an alarm clock."

"What a dope." Greiger smirked almost chuckling at this, but replaced that with a scoff. They waited for a few more seconds until they heard a beeping sound signaling that the timer reached zero. The two Runners then shot off.

"RIDING DUEL, ACCELERATION!"

**Greiger:** 4000/**SPC:** 0

**Crow:** 4000/**SPC:** 0

Crow revved his runner's engine and sped up, Greiger soon followed. The two were neck and neck until Crow got the first corner due to his runner being small and going inside on the track. Since Greiger's runner is huge, he was forced to drift out further.

"Looks Like I get the first move! Ore no ta-n!" Crow declared and drew his sixth card. "I summon Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame in attack mode!" He declared placing the card on the disk. A portal opened and a humanoid crow like tengu with blue feathers on its head appeared on the field (4) (ATK: 1800/DEF: 1200). "Then I'll place a facedown and end my turn." He concluded placing a reverse card on the field.

"My draw!" Greiger said and drew his sixth card.

**Greiger's SPC:** 1

**Crow's SPC:** 1

Greiger's turn

"I summon trap Reactor Y-FI in attack mode!" A dark green robot formed from a World War II fighter plane appeared (4) (ATK: 800/DEF: 1800). Next I activate the effect my Diving Exploder that I just drew. By discarding it from my hand to the graveyard, I can swap the attack points of all monsters on the field until the end of the turn." Greiger explained after he discarded the card.

"THAT can't be good." Crow said as a ghost image of a mechanical claw holding a bomb appeared. It dropped on Crow and exploded on contact. Thank goodness it was a ghost image or who knows what would've happened. When the dust cleared, both monsters attack points were swapped.

Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame- (ATK: 1200/DEF: 1800)

Trap Reactor Y-FI- (ATK: 1800/DEF: 800)

"Now Y-FI, attack Shura the Blue Flame!" Greiger ordered. The robotic WWII plane hover over the blue feathered tengu and gunned it down with its machine guns destroying it into pixels.

"What kind of impact is this?" Crow cringed while blown back a bit by the impact.

**Greiger:** 4000/**SPC:** 1

**Crow:** 3400/**SPC:** 1

The track then started to get bumpy and then Crow's runner hit a huge bump on the track making him go off the track and down to the ground. "There's no way I'm not gonna lose like this!" Crow yelled.

Meanwhile, Yusei, Kurogasa, Trudge, and the Twins soon made it to the geoglyph and were driving beside the flames. "Hey Yusei, any idea on what this geoglyph belongs to?" Kurogasa asked.

"No idea." Yusei answered. "It's dangerous up ahead! Kurogasa and I will go up ahead!" He said to Trudge and the Twins.

"What?" Trudge asked.

"Don't worry, Yusei. As long as I'm here, even though we enter the geoglyph, my Mark will protect Trudge and Leo." Luna protested.

"She's right! Let's go together!" Leo agreed with his sister.

"I don't know. What do you think Yusei?" the Haos Duelist asked. Yusei was pondering on this for a short while until he made his decision. "Alright then. We'll ride ahead and go after the group that's dueling. You guys can follow you afterwards. Let's go Kurogasa!" Yusei said revving up his runner.

"Right behind ya." Kurogasa said doing the same. They both revved their runners and they maneuvered them to jump off the road they're on. Trudge and Twins were worried when they did that, but relaxed when they safely landed on the flaming track and went on ahead.

Back to the duel…

Quickly reacting, Crow pushes some buttons on the handlebars of his duel runner, firing a grapple hook, which attaches to the Turbo Duel circuit and activating its wings, allowing him to glide back safely and go back on track. _'He's persistent. He managed to get back on course.'_ Greiger thought. "I'll place one card facedown and end my turn." Greiger finished. The attack points of Y-FI returned to normal.

'_No less from a shadow duel. That impact it hits is all it's cracked up to be.'_ Crow thought. Out loud… "Ore no ta-n!" Crow declared and drew a card.

**Greiger's SPC:** 2

**Crow's SPC:** 2

"I activate the speed spell, Angel Baton! If I have at least 2 or more speed counters, I can draw two cards from my deck and discard one from my hard to the graveyard!" Crow did as the card instructed. "Now I summon Blackwing – Mistral, the Silver Shield in defense mode!" A blue feathered owl like bird with a silver helmet on its head and shield on its chest appeared (2) (ATK: 100/DEF: 1800). "Next, if there's a Blackwing monster on my field, I can special summon another one to the field! I special summon Blackwing – Bora the Spear in attack mode!" The man almost entirely covered in feathers, with ostrich legs and a strange pink face with a long yellow beak, a black lance gripped in his hands appeared (4) (ATK: 1700/DEF: 800)."You summoned two monsters in one move huh?" Greiger asked. "Bora the Spear, attack Trap Reactor Y-FI with Death Spiral!" Crow commanded. Bora charged at the green plane robot and stabbed it with its huge spiral black lance and destroyed on impact making a huge dust cloud while making some debris fall from the sides of the buildings surrounding them.

**Greiger:** 3100/**SPC:** 2

**Crow:** 3400/**SPC:** 2

"Ha! How do you like that?" Crow smirked. But when the dust cleared, Y-FI was still around. The Blackwing Duelist was just shocked. "No way! How's it still alive?" He asked in disbelief. The dust cleared even more to see Greiger and the trap card he activated. "I activated my trap, Fake Explosion. It negated Trap Reactor Y-FI's destruction and with that I can special summon my Summon Reactor-SK from my hand!" The large, beige robot created from fighter plane parts, with propeller turbines for shoulders, eyes glowing through cockpit windows and landing gear for arms. (5) (ATK: 2000/DEF: 1400). _'Great, I basically gave him the edge. This looks bad, if he has those on the field, then that means his Spell Reactor-RE should come in next. And once he has that on his field, he can special summon his Flying Fortress SKY FIRE and give me a hard time like he did during his duel with Yusei at the Fortune Cup.'_

"I have to do something." Crow said to himself.

Meanwhile, Yusei and Kurogasa continued down the flaming path and they already saw the damage that Crow and Greiger made.

"Yusei, look." Kurogasa said.

"I see it. All of this debris is the work of a shadow duel." Yusei replied.

"They must be nearby." The Haos Duelist said. The two Satellites then saw something up ahead. "That must be them!" Kurogasa then revved up his runner and went faster with Yusei following.

"It's only natural for me to win against a non-Signer like you." Greiger said. The reactor duelist then noticed something coming from behind on his screen. Crow noticed it as well on his screen as well. The figures came up closer and it turned out to be Yusei and Kurogasa.

"Crow? Is that you?" Yusei asked.

"Yusei! Kurogasa!" Crow recognized.

"You two?" Greiger asked. Kurogasa looked at Greiger in shock.

"Greiger… Don't tell me that you've…" Kurogasa got out.

"Yes Kurogasa. I have been reborn to seek vengeance on Goodwin through the power of the Dark Signers!" Greiger proclaimed. "Yusei, Kurogasa… as Goodwin's pawn, you two are enemies of mine!"

"Stop this duel now!" Yusei cried at them.

"No!" Crow snarled. "The Dark Signers caused my kids to disappear, and I must avenge them! My parents were killed in the Zero Reverse…" He recalled his childhood days… He remembered how he'd wandered Satellite, lonely and miserable without friends or family. He'd wander, and sometimes he'd find food and a safe place to sleep, sometimes he wouldn't. Then he remembered how one day he'd found a duel monsters card in a landfill site, and how he had gathered more…

"Duel Monsters saved me then…" Crow murmured, bringing more memories to the forefront of his mind. He remembered wandering Satellite with the cards he had found, how he had ran into a gang of kids. He remembered how the cards had brought them together as friends, how despite his lack of education, they had used duel monsters to teach him how to read, write and calculate. Despite having no money or education, duel monsters had given him friends…

"Duel Monsters saved me from that lonely world I was imprisoned in," he said. "And now, there are plenty of kids in Satellite in the same position. I wanted to share with them the lessons I learned from Duel Monsters." His eyes burned with fiery anger as he spoke. "But the Dark Signers shattered my hopes, and I shall make them pay!"

"I'll take you on!" Greiger declared. "Vengeance is the darkness of one's heart which will never die out!"

"Stop!" Kurogasa pleaded. "Crow, the kids are safe; they're back at Martha's!"

The Blackwing duelist gasped and looked towards the Haos duelist. "Don't joke around about this!"

"It's true!" Yusei added. "They were moved over to Martha's place before the fog surrounded the nearby area of the B.A.D. You can go see them!"

Crow calmed down, "Good… I gonna thank Martha after this one… but still…" He looked straight ahead towards Greiger. "_He_ still has to go down… for everyone else taking by them!"

"Revenge just breeds more revenge!" Yusei protested. "Crow, you have to let this go, or it'll consume you!"

"Have you forgotten that this duel can't be stopped no matter what?" Crow stated, making Yusei realize it. "Signer or not, I gotta finish this."

"He's right about that." Kurogasa added. "But don't let revenge take over Crow… otherwise you _will_ lose…" Crow nodded before turning to Yusei, waiting on his answer.

"I'll see this duel through to the end." Yusei finally decided.

"Thanks Yusei." Crow thanked.

"Then let the duel continue! It's my move!" Greiger said and drew a card.

**Greiger's SPC:** 3

**Greiger's SPC:** 3

"Bring it Greiger!" Crow shouted.

"I summon Spell Reactor-RE in attack mode!" The red mechanical dragon with its rack of missiles appeared (3) (ATK: 1200/DEF: 900). "I send all three of my reactors to the graveyard, to special summon my Flying Fortress SKYFIRE!" The three reactors lined up in the skies and then formed a light pillar from the ground to the heavens. Emerging from the light, a towering, dark green robot appeared made up of the three reactors, giving it the appearance of a fortress with legs. Its arms were just like the Spell Reactor's, except larger, its wings were folded to its sides and numerous turrets covered its body. The machine's crimson eyes glowed, ablaze as SKY FIRE giving a mechanical roar (8) (ATK: 3000/DEF: 2500).

"There you are, you oversized robotic plane!" Crow taunted.

"Now I activate SKY FIRE's effect! I send a card from my hand to the graveyard and I'll destroy Mistral the Silver Shield!" The flying fortress rained bombs on the targeted monster and was destroyed in no time. "And now it's time for an attack! SKY FIRE, attacks Bora the Spear!" SKY FIRE then rained down bombs and shot its guns at the other crow tengu and was destroyed into pixels as well.

"Not so fast Greiger, I activate Mistral, the Shield's ability! If it's destroyed by battle this turn, then I can make the battle damage zero!" A ghost of the destroyed monster appeared and blocked the bullets and bombs from getting to Crow.

"Geez, talk about cutting it close." Kurogasa sighed with relief.

"Hmph. Managed to slip past that one huh?" Greiger scoffed. "I end my turn."

"Ore no ta-n!" Crow declared and drew his next card.

**Greiger's SPC:** 4

**Crow's SPC:** 4

'_Okay, let's see. SKY FIRE destroys a monster summoned or a card that's set and it makes me take 800 points of damage. In that case…'_ "I summon Blackwing – Vayu the Emblem of Honor in defense mode!" A small blackbird with red crest feathers and wings crossing each other at its front appeared (1) (ATK: 800/DEF: 0).

"Is he crazy? He'll automatically take 800 points of damage!" Kurogasa said.

"You're right Kurogasa. He _will_ take 800 points of damage." Greiger agreed. "SKY FIRE's effect activates! It destroys a monster you summoned and you take 800 points of damage! Death Drop!" Greiger said. Bombs fell on the new monster Crow summoned and was destroyed. Crow was blown forward from the blast almost going into the flame walls, but not before pressing a button making the wings come out of his runner and used it to black the flames before going back on track.

**Greiger:** 3100/**SPC:** 4

**Crow:** 2600/**SPC:** 4

"I somehow managed to dodge that one." Crow said to himself.

"If this keeps up, his body won't be able to take it." Yusei said getting worried.

"This is just getting started!" Crow said.

"What good can you do with no monsters?" Greiger asked.

"I wanted you to destroyed Vayu!" Crow shot back.

"Huh?"

"I activate Vayu's ability! By removing it and a non-Tuner monster from my graveyard, I can synchro summon!"

"You what?" Greiger roared.

"So _that's_ why he summoned Vayu!" Kurogasa said realizing his strategy.

"So now I tune my level 6 Elphin, the Raven, with my level 1, Vayu!" Crow declared. Faint images of the said monsters appeared. Vayu turned into a synchro gate while Elphin turned into six stars. The stars lined up in the synchro gate.

"_Kuroki senpuu yo, tenkuu he kakeagaru tsubasa tonare! Shinkuro Shoukan! Burakkufezaa - Aamaado Wingu!"_

A beam of light shot out of the ring and the man clad entirely in obsidian black armor decorated with crimson markings, face covered red jewel set into the beak of his bird-head shaped helmet and his clawed gauntlets clenched into fists as he roared, wings of obsidian plate spreading over him (7) (ATK: 2500/DEF: 1500). "And with him on the field, I can now special summon Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind from my hand!" The black-feathered humanoid raven with a yellow face and green feathers on its head appeared as well (3) (ATK: 1300/DEF: 400).

"Doesn't matter what you do, they can't hold a candle to SKY FIRE's attack power!" Greiger said.

"Don't be so sure. Now Blackwing Armor Master, attack Flying Fortress SKY FIRE! Black Hurricane!" Crow ordered.

"Are you out of your mind?" Greiger yelled as Armor Master punched the robotic plane as a huge tailwind emerged from Armor Master's fist, but wasn't destroyed in the process. "Armor Master wasn't destroyed?" Greiger asked.

"Sorry to disappoint, but Armored can't be destroyed by battle and it reduced the battle damage to zero. Plus, I put a Wedge Counter on your plane as well."

"What Wedge Counter?" Armor Master left a Wedge Counter onto the robotic plane fortress.

"Now I activate Armor Master's ability! By removing that Wedge Counter, it reduces SKY FIRE's attack to zero until the end of the turn!" Crow said as the wedge disappeared and the robotic plane fortress had a small web of cracks on it.

Flying Fortress SKY FIRE- (ATK: 0/DEF: 2500)

"NOO!" Greiger yelled.

"Oh yeah! That plane's about to get grounded!" Kurogasa cheered.

"Gale, the Whirlwind, attack SKY FIRE!" Crow ordered. The small faceless raven attacked by seeing a gust of wind into the web of cracks and then the fortress explodes from the inside catching Greiger in the blast.

**Greiger:** 1800/**SPC:** 3

**Crow:** 2600/**SPC:** 4

Yusei and Kurogasa managed to get away from crashing with Greiger as Greiger's runner hit the column of a bridge they passed by and the bridge collapsed.

"Greiger!" Yusei cried.

"How's that Yusei and Kurogasa? I'm no Signer, but I can fight on even ground with one." Crow stated.

"Don't let up Crow! Greiger's not easy to…" Kurogasa began. The three of them then heard the sound of a runner and out of the dust; Greiger came out and was giving chase.

"That's it Crow! You've done it this time!" Greiger shouted angrily.

"Well, with one less speed counter, you can't catch up with me now!" The Blackwing duelist taunted. "I place a facedown and end my turn." He finished placing a reverse card on the field.

"If you say that I can't catch up with you, then I'll just drag you down until you're right in front of me! It's my move!" Greiger said and drew a card.

**Greiger's SPC:** 4

**Crow's SPC:** 5

"When there are no monsters on my side of the field, I can special summon this to the field from my graveyard! Appear now! Dark Tuner, Death Submarine!" A submarine with mechanical arms appeared (9) (ATK: 0/DEF: 0).

"You summoned a level nine monster without paying its cost? That's cheating!" Crow accused.

"This is the power wrought from the Netherworld. I summon my Darksea Rescue in attack mode!" A lifeboat with ghost like goblins rowing with oars appeared (1) (ATK: 0/DEF: 0).

"This is bad." Yusei said.

"You don't have to tell me twice." Kurogasa agreed.

"Now I dark tune my level 9 Death Submarine with my level one 1 Darksea Rescue!" Greiger said as the submarine turned into 9 stars and went to Darksea Rescue. The stars surrounded the lifeboat, and went inside leaving an outline of itself. A pair of stars merged together and disappeared along with the outline of itself and then the stars turned black. It circled around itself as Greiger began to chant.

"_Kurayami no soko yori kikoeshi doukoku yo, shinigami no yoroi wo matoi, sugatawoarawasu ga Ii! Daaku Shinkuro! Araware o, Daaku Furatto Toppu!"_ (1)

A pillar of dark light tower in front of Greiger and when the dark light faded out, an aircraft carrier like machine appeared (-8) (ATK: 0/DEF: 3000).

"First a giant air fortress, now a giant aircraft carrier?" Kurogasa groaned.

"Please!" Crow laughed. "Just because he has bigger monsters, doesn't mean they're better!"

"Because I used Darksea Rescue for a synchro summon and if the Synchro monster's in defense mode, I can draw two cards." Greiger replied, drawing twice. "Now I activate the effect of Dark Flat Top, letting me special summon Flying Fortress SKY FIRE from my Graveyard, ignoring the normal summoning conditions!" Crow's eyes widened as SKY FIRE soared from the dark orb on Dark Flat Top's deck with engines roaring.

"With that back out, Crow doesn't stand a chance!" Kurogasa gasped. "And with Dark Flat Top out, it won't matter how many times SKYFIRE gets taken out because the Dark Synchro brings it back."

"Meaning he needs to take down the defense before the attacker." Yusei added. "And that will be no easy task… even I had to avoid it being summoned."

"I activate the effect of SKYFIRE!" Greiger announced, discarding a spell card, Star Blast to the graveyard. "I destroy Blackwing Armor Master!" Missiles howled from SKY FIRE, slamming down on the Blackwing Synchro monster and obliterating it from the field. "Now I'll have it attack Gale the Whirlwind!" The mechanical giant destroys the little bird and the impact of the attack made Crow lose control of his duel runner and sent him to the ground.

**Greiger:** 1800/**SPC:** 4

**Crow:** 900/**SPC:** 4

"Crow!" Yusei and Kurogasa cried out as everyone stopped in their tracks, in front of the grounded Turbo duelist.

"Don't bother getting back up." Greiger taunted. "Both you and your runner are outmatched!" Yusei tried to get off his runner to help, but…

"Stay back!" Crow shouted, struggling to get himself up. "If you interfere, I'll lose the duel! And that's not an option!"

"From the way things are going, neither is winning." the Dark Signer stated as Crow walked over to his duel runner and stood it back up to ride.

"I got too much to fight for." He stated. "I'll make sure you won't take anymore lost souls, and I'll protect the kids as well. And that means, you're gonna pay!"

"I'd like to see you try and collect." Greiger smirked as Crow got his duel runner back online and started roll down the track once more. Everyone else then followed… "I would've stayed down, if I were you…"

"Lucky for my friends, you're not…" Crow smirked back.

"I place one card facedown, and I'll let you have your turn." Greiger concluded as his reversed card appeared on the track before vanishing. But when Crow tried to draw, he felt a pain shoot through the left side of his body.

'_Damn, when he knocked me down, I must've hit the ground harder than I thought…'_ He thought, rubbing where the pain was. _'But I have to fight through it for now…'_ "Ore no ta-n!" He then drew his next card.

**Greiger's SPC:** 5

**Crow's SPC:** 5

"Since I have at least 4 Blackwing monster's in my graveyard, I can activate Black-Winged Arrow from my hand…" Crow grunted as he held up his trap card.

"Sounds like Crow's more hurt than he's letting on." Kurogasa noted.

"And it won't be easy, since SKYFIRE's out racking up the pressure…" Yusei added.

"And since I'm not setting this trap card, it gets around your overgrown war machine's effect." Crow continued as he inserted the card into his runner, causing a pitch-black arrow made from a black feather appear. "Now, I can negate the effect of a monster… and that will be SKYFIRE!" the arrow launched at the SKYFIRE's torso and stuck to it.

"Why not Flat Top?" the Haos duelist wondered.

"I place one card facedown and end my turn." Crow concluded.

"My draw!" Greiger announced as he drew.

**Greiger's SPC:** 6

**Crow's SPC:** 6

"Time to die! SKYFIRE, attack Crow directly!" SKY FIRE unleashed its hellish barrage…

"I activate the Trap Card, Blackwing – Backlash!" Crow shouted. "Because you attacked directly while I had five or more Blackwings in my Graveyard, all of your monsters are destroyed!" Fiery images of his fallen Blackwings appeared, shooting forwards and breaking through SKY FIRE and Dark Flat Top, obliterating both monsters in a fiery blaze as Greiger stared on in shock.

"My one card just made your mightiest fleet fall!" the Blackwing user laughed.

"That may be so, but a mightier being shall rise!" Greiger retorted. "I activate the Trap Card, The Impure Earth! Because two or more of my monsters, one of which was Level Eight or higher, were destroyed, I can special summon an Earthbound Immortal from my hand, deck or graveyard!"

"This can't be real!" Crow cried out as a flare of purple light erupted… An Earthbound Immortal heart appeared above the burnt, shattered ruins of Greiger's village and soul-lights flowed into it from below, making it begin to beat…

"_Sekinen no urami tsumorishi daichi ni nemuru tamashii-tachi yo! Ima koso kegasareta ta daichi yori idete, ware ni chikara wo kasan! Kourinseyo, Jibakushin Chaku Charua!"_ (2)

With an almighty roar, a pillar of purple fire erupted, fading to reveal a colossal titan of a whale, jet-black with purple geoglyph signs running across its form. Chacu Challhua gave an almighty roar as it loomed over Crow, glaring down at him with baleful purple eyes of fire (10) (ATK: 2900/DEF: 2400).

"Oh no…" Kurogasa gasped as he stared at the floating whale.

"Fortunately for you, because it was summoned by The Impure Earth, Chacu Challhua can neither attack nor activate its effects this turn." Greiger told him. "So I shall end my turn there."

"Be careful, Crow!" Yusei warned. "You've seen what this kind of card does…"

"No kidding…" the Blackwing duelist stated, remembering Yusei's fall against Kalin's Immortal. "Ore no ta-n!"

**Greiger's SPC:** 7

**Crow's SPC:** 7

"I activate my facedown card, Call of the Haunted to bring back Gale the Whirlwind!" Crow announced, bringing back the small tuner monster. "Although, I can't hit your monster, I can still use its effect! Like cutting your Immortals attack and defense in half!" Gale then blew a gust of wind hitting the whale as it cut its strength in half.

Earthbound Immortal Chacu Challhua- (ATK: 1450/DEF: 1200)

"Next, I summon Blackwing – Fane the Steel Chain!" a ninja like crow appeared (2) (ATK: 500/DEF: 800). "Attack Greiger directly!" Fane the Steel Chain soared past Chacu Challhua and delivered a savage kick to Greiger.

**Greiger:** 1300/**SPC:** 7

**Crow:** 900/**SPC**: 7

"That attack was nothing, Crow!" Greiger retorted. "Even with your tactics, Chacu Challhua has more than enough power to finish you off!"

"We'll see!" Crow shouted. "When Fane the Steel Chain attacks directly, one of your monsters is switched to defense mode!" Links of chain burst from mid-air, ensnaring Chacu Challhua in their folds. "No matter how strong a monster may be, that power is worth nothing if the monster can't attack! I end my turn with a facedown!" Crow concluded throwing a reverse card on the field.

"I draw!" Greiger announced.

**Greiger's SPC:** 8

**Crow's SPC:** 8

"You've made a big misconception!" the Dark Signer told Crow. "An Earthbound Immortal leaves no dark corners in which to hide! While Chacu Challhua is in defense position, by forfeiting its attack that turn, it deals you damage equal to half of its defense points!" Chacu Challhua roared and a blast of purple fire shot at Crow, nearly launching him into the sky.

**Greiger:** 1300/**SPC:** 8

**Crow:** 300/**SPC:** 8

"Crow!" Yusei and Kurogasa cried. Luckily, Crow used the flight mode of his runner to straighten out his fall and landed safely on the track.

"Managed to survive that huh? I end my turn with another facedown." Greiger concluded.

"Man, Crow's not gonna last this long if this keeps up." Kurogasa said.

"He's a tough guy Kurogasa. He can do this." Yusei assured him.

"Ore no ta-n!" Crow declared and drew a card from his deck.

**Greiger's SPC:** 9

**Crow's SPC:** 9

"I activate the Speed Spell – Shift Down! I remove six of my speed counters in order to draw two cards!" Crow announced, doing as the card says and drew twice.

**Greiger's SPC:** 9

**Crow's SPC:** 3

"Nice! Now, I'll place one card facedown and summon Blackwing – Ghibli the Searing Wind!" A somewhat mini version of Blackwing Dragon appeared (3) (ATK: 0/DEF: 1600). "And now for another direct attack! Fane, attack Greiger's life points directly!" Fane slews towards Greiger and used its chain to attack, hitting his wrist.

**Greiger:** 800/**SPC:** 9

**Crow:** 300/**SPC:** 3

"You think you've won this?" Greiger yelled.

"I already did! I activate the trap Urgent Tuning! During the battle phase I can synchro summon a monster, so I tune my level 2 Fane the Steel Chain and level 3 Ghibli the Searing Wind, with my level 3 Gale the Whirlwind!" Crow declared as Gale made a pillar of wind then turned into three green rings. Fane and Ghibli turned into stars and the stars lined up in the tunnel of rings.

"_Fukisusabe arashi yo! Koutetsu no ishi to hikari no hayasa wo ete, sono sugata wo shouka seyo! Shinkuro Shoukan! Burakkufezaa - Kokou no Shirubaa Windo!"_ (3)

With a piercing shriek, the synchro monster descended, a noble bird-man clad in a form-fitting black bodysuit, with white gloves and great grey wings. A mane of black hair streamed back from the gold and black raven-face helm he wore, and he wore golden greaves on his shins. Silverwind drew out basically, a Sephiroth sword from mid-air as he descended to hover beside Crow angelically, glaring at Greiger fiercely (8) (ATK: 2800/DEF: 2000)

"That may be your big Synchro Monster, but Chacu Challhua's effect still skips your Battle Phase!" Greiger said.

"Well, that's too bad. Because when Blackwing – Silverwind the Ascendant is synchro summoned, I can miss my Battle Phase that turn to destroy up to two monsters with defense lower than his attack!" Crow retorted fiercely.

"What?"

"Silverwind may not be able to beat your Immortal in battle, but he can sure destroy it through a card effect!" Crow shouted. "Silverwind…" He was about to order the effect, but was stopped by something as he looked up at Chacu Challhua. Yusei and Kurogasa seemed to notice the same thing. As they looked up at it, they saw the images of two children appear upon the Immortal's flesh, both of whom bore a close resemblance to Greiger!

"It… hurts…" a boy gasped in pain. The girl gasped in pain too. "Can… someone… help us?"

"Yusei, Crow! You see what I see?" Kurogasa asked.

"Yeah. Who are those kids inside Chacu Challhua?" Yusei wondered.

"If you're not going to use your monster's effect, I'll get on with my turn." Greiger said.

"Can't you see those kids on the Earthbound Immortal?" Crow yelled.

"All I can see is the goal of victory!"

"No Greiger, look!" Kurogasa said pointing at the Immortal.

"Take a good look at Chacu Challhua, Greiger." Yusei said. "Can't you see them?" The Dark Signer did so, and gave a gasp of shock as he saw not only his siblings, but his entire village's population upon the Earthbound Immortal!

"Why are the people of my village inside Chacu Challhua?" he gasped.

"They're the people from your village?" Yusei and Crow exclaimed.

"If they're inside the Immortal… then the Crimson Dragon didn't… destroy my village…" Greiger whispered. "The Dark Signers did!"

'_So it wasn't the Crimson Dragon that destroyed Greiger's village after all, but it was the Dark Signers that did.'_ Kurogasa thought. _'But wait, so then that Goodwin partially lied about it! Just like how he partially lied about my parent's death! Goodwin…'_ He thoughtfully growled with anger.

"Greiger, stop this now!" Yusei shouted to him.

"Yusei… Kurogasa… forgive me." Greiger whispered as his eyes turned to normal. "This duel has lost its purpose, I shouldn't have wronged you bo-", Greiger stopped in mid-sentence when he felt a searing pain in his head and gave a scream of agony.

"Greiger, what's wrong?" The Haos Duelist asked worried.

"_**You must fight!"**_ a dark voice hissed to him. _**"You are a Dark Signer, brought back from the Underworld, and you must kill all Signers."**_ The Dark Signer's eyes glowed with fiery purple light.

"That's not Greiger; the Earthbound Immortal is controlling him!" Kurogasa realized.

"_**I am a Dark Signer, and I shall eliminate this world under the darkness of the Underworld!"**_ he declared, before he groaned and the purple light faded. "Crow… please, defeat me… if you do all the souls… sacrificed to Chacu Challhua… will be freed…" He groaned and the purple light returned. _**"If you won't go on with your turn, I shall take mine. It's my move!" **_Greiger drew a card.

**Greiger's SPC:** 10

**Crow's SPC:** 4

"Careful Crow, that's not Greiger anymore!" Yusei warned.

"_**I activate the Continuous Trap Card Basara, meaning that once per turn I can release a monster to destroy a monster on the field with a higher level and deal 800 points of damage to that monster's controller."**_ The Trap Card lifted up, with an image of a black demonic human face with flames engulfing it. _**"But I won't use it, instead I'll switch my Immortal to attack mode and destroy the rest of your life points!"**_ Chacu Challhua opened up its mouth and fired purple flames out of it readying to burn Crow.

"Crow… don't let Greiger's wishes go in vain!" Yusei cried as the purple flames shot towards Crow…

'_I won't let them go in vain… I'll save the people of his village…'_ Crow thought. "I activate the trap, Parasite Mind! This lets me activate one of your continuous spell or trap cards as my own, and I choose your Basara, Releasing my Silverwind the Ascendant to destroy Chacu Challhua and deal you 800 points of damage!" Parasite Mind's artwork changed to that of Basara and Silverwind lit ablaze with energy, shooting at Chacu Challhua with an almighty shriek…

"_**NOOOOOOOOOOOO!"**_

The Blackwing pierced into Chacu Challhua, which gave a deathly howl of pure outrage as it was impaled by the energy stream of Silverwind the Ascendant's passage, flames ripping through it before it shattered and Silverwind struck Greiger with a sweep of his blade, the Dark Signer giving a sigh of relief as his life points depleted…

**Greiger:** 0/**SPC:** 10

**Crow:** 300/**SPC:** 4

The Killer Whale geoglyph died away as the cards left on the field faded to nothing. Crow skidded to a halt. "I did it!" Crow said. But then, a giant boulder suddenly fell from a building, shaken loose by the blast of Chacu Challhua's demise, plunging towards Crow, but Greiger forced his opponent aside with his Runner, taking the boulder instead!

"Greiger!" Yusei, Kurogasa, and Crow cried out, skidding their runners to a stop beside the broken and battered form of the Dark Signer, who looked up at them with a groan of pain.

"Are you… okay…?" he groaned.

"Greiger, don't die!" Yusei begged him.

"Why did you save me?" Crow asked.

"You saved… the people of my village…" Greiger said weakly. "Find… the children… you took care of… and raise… them well…"

"I will do that. No matter what you say." Crow replied sincerely.

"Yusei… you were right… about everything…" the Dark Signer continued, "Nothing remains… after revenge… Please… Yusei… Kurogasa… defeat the Dark Signers…" With that, his form turned to grey and he fell apart into dust, being taken by the wind into the reaches of the heavens…

Crow and Yusei were left staring after the grey particles as they were blown away with Kurogasa doing the same thing, but he soon looked away closing his eyes shut in sorrow as he was being reminded of what happened to his parents.

"We will carry on your promises, Greiger." Yusei promised…

A while later, Yusei, Crow, and Kurogasa met up with Trudge and the Twins on an abandoned freeway which was near where Kalin was supposed to be.

"You're going to where Kalin is, right?" Crow asked.

"Yeah. My battle is just getting started. I'm gonna tell him what _really_ happened that day." Yusei said.

"Good luck Yusei." Kurogasa said.

"Thanks." And with that Yusei, revved up his runner and headed for the Giant Tower.

There we go. A chapter done. Don't forget to review!

(1)- Wailing audible from the depths of the darkness so thick, be wrapped in the armor of death itself and show yourself! Dark Synchro! Appear now, Dark Flat Top!

(2)- Souls who rest in the earth, garnering such longstanding grudges! Now it is time to come forth from the impure earth and lend me power! Descend forth, Earthbound Immortal Chacu Challhua!

(3)- Gust fiercely, storm! Gain the will of steel and the speed of light to sublime your form! Synchro Summon! Blackfeather – Lone Silver Wind!


	39. Chapter 36: the Truth Shall Set You Free

Time for another chapter of Stardust Accelerator: Rise of the Earthbounds! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Same thing.

Chapter 36: The Truth Shall Set You Free

We last let off with Crow managing to defeat Greiger and now Yusei was on his way to the Giant Tower and face his friend Kalin, followed closely by Kurogasa, Crow, Leo, Luna and Trudge.

'_Yusei, Kalin… It looks like you two are about to finally settle things.'_ Crow thought.

"I wonder if Yusei's going to be okay." Luna said worried.

"Yusei will win for sure! I know it!" Leo assured her sister.

"Yeah. After knocking some sense into Yusei about dueling Kalin, I'm sure he'll win." Kurogasa assured Luna as well. Luna nodded at this, but she was still worried. _'Yusei_ will _win this duel. He's got the confidence to finally to set the record straight with Kalin.'_ The Haos Duelist thought. Meanwhile, at the tower, Kalin, who has been waiting at the tower and anticipating Yusei's arrival, spots him in the distance, as Yusei notices him around the same time.

"You've arrived Yusei." Kalin said with an evil smirk as he revs the engines of his duel runner, before speeding head on in front of Yusei. Both boys swerve their duel runners to one side, avoiding collision.

"Kalin!" Yusei said.

"It would seem that now is the time for us to settle the scores! The last duel of The Enforcers, the one that never was completed back then!" Kalin maniacally laughed.

"Last Duel…" Yusei muttered as he remembered the day where everything went wrong for the Enforcers and for Kalin.

Flashback

_He recalled the assembled members of Team Satisfaction standing in a desolate, ruined building in Satellite, while the rain poured down outside. Kalin walked over and threw his arms around his teammates with a sadistic smirk._

"_I'm glad you're all here!" he laughed, stalking over to a window and glaring out. "This is the definite last duel of The Enforcers!" Outside, a virtual army of Sector Security stood assembled, armed with duel disks, guns and duel runners. Later, the team had split up and the blood-stained Kalin was standing over the dead Security officer, when, Yusei tackled him from the side. The two fell to the ground in a whirling heap of fists and kicking feet. Finally, he remembered how Kalin had been dragged into a Security paddy wagon, watching the Security captain pat Yusei on the shoulder. "Yusei!" the pale-blue haired boy screamed, thrashing against his Security captors before being hurled into the wagon…_

End Flashback

"It's time to get this started!" Kalin declared, throwing off his cloak as his Giant Mark blazed with energy, the corresponding Nazca Line forming on the earth around them in purple fire. "This will be the last duel! I shall kick you into the inferno of vengeance from the depths of death!"

"I'll save you, Kalin!"

"Can you?" Kalin asked rhetorically. "FI-RUDO MAHO! SUPIDO WARUDO! SETTO ON!" He yelled as he pressed a button on his runner.

"**DUEL MODE. AUTO-PILOT ON. STAND BY."**

The words 'DUEL MODE' appeared on both screens then showed the duelists' playing field, speed counters, and life points. A purple aura shot out of the runners. Yusei and Kalin maneuvered their runners so that they are facing in the same directions while being next to each other.

"Yusei, you still haven't given up on Kalin have you?" Crow muttered to himself.

Both runners then sped off.

"RIDING DUEL, ACCELERATION!"

**Yusei:** 4000/**SPC:** 0

**Kalin:** 4000/**SPC:** 0

"I'll make the first move! Ore no ta-n!" Kalin declared and drew his sixth card. "I summon my Infernity Necromancer in defense mode!" A skeleton like creature with greyish hair with ragged purple robes appeared (3) (ATK: 0/DEF: 2000). "Then I'll place a facedown and end my turn!" He concluded placing a reverse card on the field. "Come on Yusei, bring it on! I'll make you sorely regret of ever betraying in this duel!"

"Ore no ta-n!" Yusei declared and drew a card from his deck.

**Yusei's SPC:** 1

**Kalin's SPC:** 1

'_Kalin, I remember when our path was started to deviate.' _Yusei remembered as he was thinking back of that day. He remembered that back in the past, The Enforcers managed to dominate Satellite. They have literally becoming cinders, looking for the next thing to do. He also remembered Kalin defeating a member of a duel gang they once fought. After that, he crushed the young boy's duel disk, which makes him happy. He was about to hurt the young boy with his right foot until Crow pushed him, saving the young boy. That was when Crow had enough and left the team with Jack following; leaving only Yusei and Kalin.

"Hey, hurry it up you traitor!" Kalin taunted.

"I summon Max Warrior in attack mode!" A large armored warrior with a green cape, a necklace with large beads, and a long two pronged trident appeared (4) (ATK: 1800/DEF: 800). "Next I activate Max Warrior's effect! When it attacks, its attack increases by 400 points!"

Max Warrior- (ATK: 2200/DEF: 800).

"Max Warrior attack his Infernity Necromancer! Twin Slash!" Yusei commanded. Max Warrior charged at the Necromancer and stabbed it with its two prong trident instantly destroying it into pixels. "However, Max Warrior's attack, defense, and level will be halved by their original values until my next turn."

Max Warrior- (2) (ATK: 900/DEF: 400)

'_We were friends. That's why I stayed by your side. But, even that…'_ Yusei continued to think as he remembered when Kalin wants to crush Sector Security, saying that he had finally found The Enforcers' final enemy and that only by defeating them will their true conquest of Satellite be complete. That's what got Yusei to finally leave Kalin leaving the latter to do this one on his own. _'Kalin wouldn't take on Sector Security if he's all by himself. At least that's what_ I _thought. But I couldn't have been more wrong.'_ He continued as he remembered of what happened that night. The night when Kalin was arrested. '_We were there to help, but I made the wrong decision back then. That's why I decided to save you today, just like when you saved me.'_ He said remembering when Yusei was over the edge of a building and Kalin was trying to rescue him. "I place three facedowns and end my turn." Yusei concluded placing three reverse cards on the field.

"Ore no ta-n!" Kalin declared and drew a card.

**Yusei's SPC**: 2

**Kalin's SPC:** 2

"I place a facedown and then activate the trap Limit Impulse! I send two cards from my hand to the graveyard to special summon Soul Tokens!" Kalin as he discarded two cards from his hand. Two Soul Tokens appeared out of the trap card (1) (ATK: 0/DEF: 0). "Then I'll sacrifice both of them to advance summon my Dark Tuner Nightmare Hand!" The two tokens disappeared and his Dark Tuner appeared on the field (10) (ATK: 0/DEF: 0).

"Oh no… I know where this is going…" Kurogasa muttered. "And he's only got one card in his hand left… which means…"

"Nightmare Hand's monster effect will special summon a level two monster from my hand. And I already have it. I special summon my Infernity Dwarf!" The fat bearded dwarf with flaming axe in hand appeared (2) (ATK: 800/DEF: 500). "And now for the dark tuning! I dark tune my level 10 Nightmare Hand with my level 2 Infernity Dwarf!" Kalin laughed. Nightmare Hand turned into ten stars and surrounded the dwarf. It went inside it and the dwarf cried in pain as it went in and an orange outline of itself appeared revealing 12 stars. Four of them disappeared leaving the remaining eight. The dwarf outline disappeared; the stars turned black and circled around each other.

"_Shikkoku no tobari orishi toki, meifu no hitomi ha hirakareru! Maioriro yami yo! Daaku Shinkuro! Ideyo, Wan Handoreddo Ai Doragon!"_

A dark orb formed above Kalin and then it dispersed to reveal a black dragon with as the names suggests, hundred eyes all over its body all glowing purple (-8) (ATK: 3000/DEF: 2500).

"Not again!" Yusei cringed.

"His zero hand combo is complete!" Kurogasa cried.

"Now it's time I wring that warrior of yours to death! One Hundred Eye Dragon, attack his Max Warrior! Infinity Sight Stream!" Kalin ordered. Its eyes glowed purple and then fire a huge purple laser from its mouth destroying it instantly. Yusei started to lose control of his runner when the attack was made.

**Yusei:** 1900/**SPC:** 0

**Kalin:** 4000/**SPC:** 2

"Yusei!" The Twins cried.

"His life points jumped down to just under half and his speed counters are at zero!" Crow cringed.

"How's that Yusei! Superb pain, isn't it!" Kalin laughed.

"I activate the trap, Revival Ticket! This lets me destroy one card on my field for each monster destroyed in battle, recovering his life points equal to the battle damage! Then the monster destroyed will come back to the field! Come, Max Warrior!" Yusei said as he destroyed one of his facedowns on the field. Max Warrior came back and Yusei's life points recovered.

**Yusei:** 4000/**SPC:** 0

**Kalin:** 4000/**SPC:** 2

"What?" Kalin asked shocked.

"That's not all! The card I destroyed due to Revival Ticket's effect was Limiter Overload! Limiter Overload's effect allows me to summon a Speed Warrior from my hand, deck or graveyard! Go, Speed Warrior!" The armored skater appeared on the field (2) (ATK: 900/DEF: 400).

"Whew… talk about cutting it close." Kurogasa sighed relieved.

"Nice move, resisting Kalin's attack like that." Trudge praised.

"You near-damned traitor! What can you do before One Hundred Eye Dragon?" Kalin snapped.

"You'll see soon enough! Ore no ta-n!" Yusei declared and drew a card.

**Yusei's SPC:** 1

**Kalin's SPC**: 3

'_It's true that my two monsters can't do a thing against One Hundred Eye Dragon, but maybe I can do something about it with the cards I have in my hand.'_ Yusei thought. "I activate the trap, Card of Sacrifice! If the combined attack of all monsters on my field is lower than my opponent's monster's attack, it allows me to draw 2 cards! My monsters combined attack points are not enough against your monster, so I can draw two cards!" Yusei declared and drew them. "And, during this turn, I can't summon a monster or switch battle modes.

"Hahaha! You really are in a deadlock aren't you Yusei! It's pathetic!" Kalin sneered.

"I'll place two facedowns and call it a turn." Yusei finished placing the said reverse cards on the field.

"Ore no ta-n!" Kalin declared drawing a card.

**Yusei's SPC:** 2

**Kalin's SPC:** 4

"I place a card face-down and activates One Hundred Eye Dragon's effect, which allows it to gain the effects of any of any dark attribute monsters in my graveyard! So now, I activate the effect of Infernity Necromancer in my graveyard! When I have no cards in my hand, it allows him to special summon a level four or below Infernity monster in my graveyard! I special summon my Infernity Archfiend!" Kalin declared. A faint of Necromancer appeared and it summoned the tall, skeletally thin purple-skinned demon with four amber eyes, clad in a grey shroud. (4) (ATK: 1800/DEF: 1200).

"I activate the trap, Slip Summon! Activated when my opponent summons a monster, I can special summon a level four or below monster from my hand in defense mode! I special summon Ghost Gardna!" A ghost like creature in some sort of armor appeared (4) (ATK: 0/DEF: 1900).

"Heh. Typical futile resistance. "Kalin scoffed. "I'll have the terror of my handless combo pierce you to the bone. One Hundred Eye Dragon, attack his Speed Warrior! Infinity Sight Stream!" Kalin commanded. The dragon turned to Speed Warrior and fired a huge purple beam from its mouth.

"Not so fast! I activate Ghost Gardna's effect! When another card on my field becomes targeted with an attack, I can switch that target to Ghost Gardna!" Yusei countered. Ghost Gardna got in the way of Speed Warrior.

"Damn your crafty ways! In that case, I activate my dragon's ability, gaining the effect of Infernity Dwarf, which allows me to do piercing damage when my hand is at zero!" Kalin countered to that. The huge laser destroyed Ghost Gardna into pixels and Yusei's life points dropped.

**Yusei:** 2900/**SPC:** 1

**Kalin:** 4000/**SPC:** 4

Yusei started to spin out of control for a while, but got back in control.

"Hey Yusei! Don't go dying on me here!" Kalin laughed. "It's far from being enough! And that doesn't come close to extinguishing my inferno of vengeance! Now Infernity Archfiend, attack his Max Warr- what?" Kalin said surprised as he saw its attack power was lowered.

Infernity Archfiend- (ATK: 800/DEF: 1200).

"Sorry to disappoint Kalin, but when Ghost Gardna is destroyed and sent to the graveyard, the attack of the opposing monster decreases by 1000 points until the end phase." Yusei explained.

"Grr… I end my turn." Kalin growled.

"Ore no ta-n!" Yusei declared and drew a card.

**Yusei's SPC:** 2

**Kalin's SPC:** 5

"I summon Junk Synchron in attack mode!" Yusei declared as his orange tuner monster appeared on the field (3) (ATK: 1300/DEF: 500). "Now I tune my level 2 Speed Warrior with my level 3 Junk Synchron!" Junk Synchron pull the cord on the engine on his back and turned into three green rings. Speed Warrior turned into two stars. The stars lined up in the tunnel of rings.

"_Tsudoishi hoshi ga, aratana chikara o yobiokosu! Hikari sasu michi tonare! Shinkuro Shoukan! Ideyo, Jyanku Woria!"_

A beam of light shot out of the rings and Yusei's signature purple robot appeared on the field (5) (ATK: 2300/DEF: 1300). "Alright! Now we're getting somewhere! It's about time he Synchro Summoned a monster!" Kurogasa cheered.

"Next I activate the trap, Synchro Striker Unit! This card becomes an Equip Card and increases the equipped monster's ATK by 1000!" Yusei said as a large laser bazooka attached to Junk Warrior.

Junk Warrior- (ATK: 3300/DEF: 2500)

"Max Warrior, attack Infernity Archfiend! Swift Rush!" Yusei commanded. "Max Warrior's effect activates! When it attacks, his power increases by 400!"

Max Warrior- (ATK: 2200/DEF: 800)

Max Warrior went for the archfiend, about to attack with his two pronged trident. "Don't knock my handless combo! I counter that with the trap card, Infernity Force! When an Infernity monster is attacked while my hand is empty, it destroys an opponent's monster. In this case, it's Max Warrior! The said monster was destroyed instantly. "That's not all. After that, thanks to Infernity Force's effect, I can special summon a Level four or lower Infernity monster from my graveyard. I bring back Infernity Necromancer!" Kalin laughed as the said monster returned to the field in defense mode.

"Junk Warrior, attack his One Hundred-Eye Dragon!" Yusei ordered. Junk Warrior aimed its laser bazooka at the dragon and fired a laser ball at the dragon and the dragon on contact. Kalin cringed at this as his dark synchro monster was destroyed.

**Yusei:** 2900/**SPC:** 2

**Kalin:** 3700/**SPC:** 5

"Yeah!" Leo cheered.

"Nice! That One Hundred Eye Dragon is finally dead and buried!" Trudge smiled. But then Crow and Kurogasa's faces turned into a worried expression.

"But with that dragon destroyed… oh no…" Kurogasa cringed.

"This means…" Crow realized as well.

"Thanks Yusei." Kalin laughed evilly. When my One Hundred Eye dragon is destroyed, I can select one card from my deck and add it to my hand." And he did just that.

'I knew it. Kalin used his dragon to get the card he wanted.' Yusei suspected.

"I place two cards facedown and end my turn." Yusei finished placing the reverse cards on the field. "Also, during the end phase, Junk Warrior's attack decreases by 800 points during each of my end phases."

Junk Warrior- (ATK: 2500/DEF: 1300)

Kalin flipped the card over and Yusei's suspicion was correct. Kalin chose Earthbound Immortal - Ccapac Apu. "I knew it. Earthbound Immortal - Ccapac Apu. But, I will… for Kalin…" Yusei said still determined to save him.

'_Yusei, this is just the same as back then. Trying to save Kalin…'_ Crow thought.

'That's right Kalin. I'm going to save you from destruction.' Yusei thought as memories flooded back to that one night where everything went wrong. Especially for Kalin. He remembered the fateful night when it all ended, remembering how he, Jack and Crow had stood in the hideout and laid their Duel Disks down on the table.

Flashback

"_What's going on?" Kalin snarled at them. "Aren't we going to fight together?"_

"_Open your eyes." Jack told him._

"_We don't have a chance if we go up against Sector Security head-on." Crow added._

"_You have to get out of here, Kalin." Yusei said._

"_That won't satisfy me!" Kalin protested. "We defeated Satellite… we dominated it for the first time! At the very least, let's have our last duel, together!" But the rest of his friends disagreed to that._

"_We no longer have the same views as you." Jack replied._

"_What did you say?" Kalin asked shocked. _

"_We're friends, and we want to save you from Sector Security." Yusei added. Then the door to the hideout was smashed open and Security swarmed in…The Enforcers managed to escape, but they were divided by doing so, separated by the streets of Satellite. Kalin found himself at a dead end in an alleyway, cornered by a Security officer._

"_I'll just have to fight by myself, then." he muttered, activating his Disk. "I summon Vorse Raider!" Kalin declared, summoning one of Seto Kaiba's famous monsters. _

"_I'll stomp you flat, you Satellite scum!" the Security shouted, drawing a card. "I summon Montage Dragon!" A tri-headed dragon rose up with an almighty roar. The Montage Dragon blasted away Vorse Raider away with its beams that come out of its three mouths. _

"_No!" Kalin snarled. He rushed the runner, leaping onto it and grappling with the officer for control of it. Unfortunately, both lost control of the vehicle, sending them crashing through a wall before slamming into a second, having the two fly off into the street. The blood-stained agent lay unconscious, while Kalin groaned and stood up. With a sadistic smirk on his face, he snatched up a wooden stick and raised it, ready to beat the agent out of his misery… Then Yusei tackled him from the side, sending both crashing to the ground. As the two fought, Crow and Jack ran up, dragging them apart before leading them away to a safe house they had found…_

"_It's only a matter of time, before we're found out." Jack said while and Crow held Kalin back._

"_Take care of Kalin." Yusei murmured to Jack and Crow as he stood up, walking out… He stepped into the full glare of the Security spotlights. "I surrender!" he declared, putting his hands up. "I'm the leader of The Enforcers!"_

_The Security captain appeared. "Officers, take the leader of Team Satisfaction in." Yusei was stunned as they ran past him, to drag out Kalin a short while later._

"_You've got the wrong leader!" Yusei protested, but the captain smirked._

"_Defiance against Security is a first-class crime." he said. "Your friend won't ever be seen again, and kid, don't ever try to pull a stunt like that for a piece of scum like him again. We already had detailed intel on the lot of you Enforcers dogs." He patted Yusei on the shoulder, and Kalin saw._

"_Yusei, you sold me out!" he howled._

"_Kalin!" Yusei screamed as the paddy wagon doors slammed shut, leaving his friend to be taken away. The Security captain chuckled and walked away._

End Flashback

"Jack, Crow and I tried to save you!" Yusei shouted at Kalin.

"You betrayed me to begin with!" Kalin snapped.

"That's not true, Yusei tried to surrender in your place, Kalin! He was doing what a friend always does, and that's watching each other's back!" Kurogasa shouted from outside the geoglyph.

"Oh yeah? So then why didn't they fight with me until the end? Why did they bend to Security's idiotic questioning, huh? Those actions mean The Enforcers sold me out!" Kalin roared. "Do you know the fate of those who oppose Sector Security? I was painfully branded with a criminal mark, and the guards kept abusing me!"

"We tried to visit you!" Crow shouted. "We were never able to meet you, and then, before long…we got news that you already died…" Crow trailed off.

"It wasn't that simple!" Kalin screamed. "I could have withstood countless brutalities, but they took away my deck, which was more precious to me than my life! After that, I went into a depression where I refused to eat, and they just let me starve! One night, I heard a voice asking what my desire was, and telling me that to fulfill that desire, I'd have to become a Dark Signer… my desire was, and is vengeance! By becoming a Dark Signer, I swore revenge on you, Yusei, and I'll make you go through the worst fears I had to endure, all with the power of my Earthbound Immortal!"

"You just gave up on yourself and your friends!" the Haos duelist shouted. "They told you not to go through with it, but you did it anyway! You're the reason Sector Security ran through Satellite, and your ass hauled off to jail! Think about it, if you didn't strike everything would have been peaceful. All you ever did was look for a fight and I bet liberating the sectors was nothing but a game to you!"

"You know nothing about me!"

"The way you became a Dark Signer, I got everything I need to know… you just saw only a part of the story and used Yusei for a scapegoat for your pain. The Earthbound Immortal just needs you to cement its place among the living and you're the puppet! Just stop the duel, it's pointless!"

"Never! I won't stop until I'm satisfied! Ore no ta-n!" Kalin yelled and drew a card from his deck.

**Yusei's SPC:** 3

**Kalin's SPC:** 6

"I release my Necromancer and Infernity to advance summon!" Kalin yelled as both monsters turned into orbs of light, flew up, merged into one and what took its place was an Earthbound Heart. _"Kourinseyo! Jibakushin Kokapaku Apu!" _Kalin yelled as he rose his card up in the air and it fired a purple beam towards the Immortal Heart. It pulsated and a huge pillar of light formed. The purple flames intensified, a huge hand came out of the ground and then the Giant with blue markings all over roared as it rose up from the ground (10) (ATK: 3000/DEF: 3000). Leo and Luna were extremely scared and held on to Kurogasa tight as Trudge, Crow, and Kurogasa looked at it in horror.

"It's here…" Kurogasa growled.

"There it is!" Trudge said.

"Yusei!" Crow cried.

"Have another taste of terror from my Earthbound Immortal! Ccapac Apu, attack Yusei directly!" Kalin laughed. The Giant pulled back its hand and reached out towards Yusei. Memories of this incident flooded in his mind, but now, he was ready for it.

'_No! I refuse to run in fear anymore! When I send your Earthbound Immortal to its doom, I'll you're your fears Kalin!'_ "I activate the trap, Baton of the Hero! During this turn, I can switch the attack target!"

"What?" Kalin asked shocked.

"And I switch the target to Junk Warrior!" Yusei said as Junk Warrior protected Yusei and gave up its own life for his.

**Yusei:** 2400/**SPC:** 3

**Kalin:** 3700/**SPC:** 6

"So, you managed to use your monster as a shield to evade my Earthbound Immortal's attack huh? Well then, I activate Ccapac Apu's effect! When my Immortal destroys an opposing monster, it deals damage equal to the monster's attack!" Kalin said as the Giant glowed an aura.

"Oh no!" Kurogasa cried.

"Junk Warrior attack was 2500! That's greater than Yusei's life points!" Crow exclaimed.

"Yusei!" The Twins cried as the aura was shot at Yusei.

"I counter that with this! The trap, Burst Synchro Summon!" Yusei countered activating the trap! "It reduces one instance of effect damage to 0 for this turn." An energy shield surrounded Yusei and blocked the aura. "And thanks to Burst Synchro Summon's effect, I'm allowed to special summon a synchro monster with an attack equal to the effect damage reduced to 0 via this effect, ignoring the summoning conditions."

"So that means…" Leo began.

"Yusei's gonna summon his Stardust Dragon!" Luna finished.

"_Hishouseyo! Sutadasuto Doragon!_" Yusei called as the energy shield disappeared, formed into a ball of energy and Yusei's signature dragon appeared with stardust streaming out of its wings (8) (ATK: 2500/DEF: 2000).

"Aw yeah! Atta boy Yusei!" Kurogasa cheered.

"That's why you destroyed Junk Warrior." Crow said realizing his strategy.

"So, Yusei's ace is on the scene huh?" Kalin asked no one in particular. "I place a facedown and end my turn." Kalin finished placing a reverse card on the field.

"Ore no ta-n!" Yusei declared and drew a card.

**Yusei's SPC:** 4

**Kalin's SPC:** 7

"I activate the continuous trap card, Glowing Image of the Guardian God! When my opponent's monster attacks, I'm allowed to receive its attack with my Earthbound Immortal!" Kalin said.

"That's not good. At this rate, Stardust Dragon's attacks will end up being aimed at Ccapac Apu." Kurogasa said grimly. "He better have a backup plan for that." Yusei was also thinking the same thing.

"I activate the Speed Spell – Angel Baton! If I have two or more speed counters, I can draw 2 cards and send one card to the graveyard." Yusei did just that. "The card he sent to the graveyard was Stardust Xiaolong. If Stardust Dragon is on the field, then this card is special summoned from my graveyard!" A small Chinese dragon with a crest similar to Stardust Dragon's appeared (1) (ATK: 100/DEF: 100). "I place a facedown and end my turn." Yusei said placing a reverse card on the field.

"Ore no ta-n!" Kalin said and drew a card.

**Yusei's SPC:** 5

**Kalin's SPC:** 8

"Trap card, open! Superior Protector! I equip it to Stardust Dragon!" Yusei said as he did so, "This causes the only battle damage towards me to be caused through battle with Stardust Dragon!

"So you're sealing direct attacks huh? Then I'll just crush Stardust Dragon then! Ccapac Apu, attack Stardust Dragon now!" Kalin ordered. The Giant reached its hand out to Yusei's dragon.

"He's not going anywhere! I activate the effect of Superior Protector! By sending this card to the graveyard, it will negate destruction via battle."

"But you'll still take damage. And I'll capitalize on that, by activating the continuous trap card, Wicked Trample, which doubles the battle damage outside of a direct attack!" Kalin countered.

"What?" Yusei asked shocked.

The Giant's hand got to Stardust Dragon, but wasn't destroyed. A wave of impact got to Yusei and Yusei cried out in pain as he took the hit.

**Yusei:** 1400/**SPC:** 4

**Kalin:** 3700/**SPC:** 8

The attack caused Kalin to lose control of his duel runner for a moment. The force was so powerful it struck Kalin, and his Duel Runner skidded out of control. "Kalin!" Yusei cried as he went to help his friend and extended a hand. Kalin was shocked as it caused him to remember when he saved Yusei from falling off a building back then.

"I was presumptuous enough to think I could save you by sacrificing myself…" the Signer called out. "But, that's not the case! Only unity of companions can save a companion!"

"Yusei…" Crow, Kurogasa, and Luna said at the same time. At this points, Luna's and Kurogasa's Mark of the Dragon glowed.

"Kurogasa! Look!" Luna said looking at her Front Claw mark.

"Yeah. I know." Kurogasa said looking at his Body mark.

Elsewhere…

Jack's Wing mark began to glow. "Yusei! Kalin!" He cried out.

Elsewhere…

Akiza's Rear Claw mark began to glow as well. "I can feel what Yusei's feeling…" Akiza muttered.

Back at the duel…

"Jack and Crow share the same concerns! Our new friends are giving us their support! This isn't a battle to defeat you, but one to save you from the Dark Signers!" Yusei cried out as his Tail Mark was glowing.

"Yusei…" Kalin breathed out. "What does it… what does it matter now?" Kalin replied. His runner skidded out of control again.

"Kalin!" Yusei cried. And then all five Marks of the Dragon shone like supernovas, vanishing. The Head Mark from the canister vanished.

"What the-" Akiza gasped.

"It's happening…" Jack gasped as well.

"They're gone!" Luna said. "Does that mean…"

"Yes. Now the power of the Crimson Dragon is going to Yusei!" Kurogasa said. And soon, all the Marks of the Crimson Dragon including the Head from the canister were on Yusei's back forming the full seal.

"Our wishes will cluster together and be completed!" Yusei said and then the top card of Yusei's deck glowed. "This is…" Yusei said. "Ore no ta-n!" Yusei declared and drew that card.

**Yusei's SPC:** 5

**Kalin's SPC:** 9

"No way! This is…" Yusei gasped as he saw the card that Kurogasa has been using to win his duels. "Well, if it worked for Kurogasa, it can work for me! I summon Savior Dragon!" The same small, pink dragon with a curvy head, yellow eyes and small wings appeared (1) (ATK: 0/DEF: 0). "now I tune my level 8 Stardust Dragon and level 1 Stardust Xiaolong, with my level 1 Savior Dragon!". The monsters flew up in the air. Savior Dragon then turned transparent and grew very large as a green ring formed inside it. Leonidas turned into 8 stars and Turbo Booster into 1 star making the total 9. The nine stars lined up in the green ring inside Savior Dragon.

"_Tsudoishi hoshi no kagayaki ga, aratana kiseki wo terashidasu! Hikari sasu michi tonare! Shinkuro Shoukan! Kouraiseyo! Seivaa Suta Doragon!"_ (1)

A beam of light shot through Yusei as he was engulfed in it and then a massive crystalline dragon took flight, its body a pale sapphire shade. Its wings and thighs set with rubies, its shoulders and chest with amethysts. It spread its immense crystal-bladed wings (10) (ATK: 3800/DEF: 3000). Within the dragon, Yusei was still on his duel runner, somehow seeing out through the dragon's eyes to see Kalin.

"Whoa! That's a cool dragon!" Leo exclaimed in awe.

"Yeah. Let's just hope that dragon can help Yusei win." Kurogasa said.

"I activate the effect of Savior Star Dragon!" Yusei called out. "Once per turn, it can negate the effects of an opponent's monster and then I can activate it as Savior Star Dragon's effect once! Sublimation Drain!" The Giant roared in pain as particles of glowing blue light flew from its skin, absorbing into Savior Star Dragon. "Now Savior Star Dragon, attack Earthbound Immortal Ccapac Apu! Shooting Blaster Sonic!" Savior Star Dragon folded its wings inwards and the aura of light around it intensified as it shot at Ccapac Apu like a missile, hitting the Earthbound Immortal and pierced through it. It exploded out into the sky, spreading its wings as the Immortal screamed in pain. As soon as it was destroyed, the rest of Kalin's life points depleted due to Ccapac Apu's effect absorbed by Savior Star Dragon.

**Yusei:** 1400/**SPC:** 4

**Kalin:** 0/**SPC:** 6

As Yusei looked down, he saw Kalin's runner skid out of control, plunging into the geoglyph flames. "Kalin!" Yusei cried as Savior Star Dragon dove down, penetrating through the geoglyph flames to grab up Kalin into its body before flying up again. Yusei held Kalin in his arms, watching as the Dark Signer's eyes returned to normal.

"Kalin, hang on! I won't abandon a friend! I'm going to save you this time!" the Signer promised.

"Yusei… when I became a Dark Signer, I asked for one more wish. I wanted to play the last duel of the Enforcers, the one that never came true back then…" Yusei was shocked and was upset at his words. Outside, the Giant geoglyph faded away. "I wasn't able… to stay mad at you…" Kalin chuckled before saying, "Talk about lame. This isn't enough to satisfy me…" Kalin then turned grew and faded into dust. A short while later, after the Marks returned to their owners, Yusei stood alone, watching Savior Star Dragon soar away. He clenched his fist as tears ran down his face.

"Kalin… You were my friend. For you… my friend… I will… definitely defeat the Dark Signers! KALIIIIIIIIIIN!

Ughhhh… finally got it done. Well, you guys know what to do. Review!

(1)- Gather starlights will enlighten a new miracle! Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! Arrive in light, Savior Star Dragon!


	40. Chapter 37: Defying Destiny's Will

Hey guys, here's another chapter of Stardust Accelerator: Rise of the Earthbounds. Oh, this chapter is made of Duelist of Dawn, so give _him_ the credit. Anyways, go ahead and read!

Disclaimer: Same thing as usual.

Chapter 37: Defying Destiny's Will

In the Dark Signers' lair, Roman sat at the table and watched as another candle went out.

"So Yusei has defeated Kalin," he murmured, "How disappointing..." He looked down at his right arm, which was bruised. "I can't be stopped here." He then looked at a photograph depicting himself, Rex and Yusei's father, Dr. Fudo. "Now for the seventeen year-old account between Yusei and I to be settled…"

Yusei placed Stardust Dragon's card into the control unit slot, before withdrawing it and sprinting from the tower before it slid back into the bowels of the earth. As he emerged, Crow called out to him from a nearby bridge, and the Signer ran to join him and the others.

"Look, Yusei!" the Haos said, gesturing out over Satellite, where people had reappeared. "The people sacrificed to Ccapac Apu must have come back when you destroyed it!"

"That's right!" Leo exclaimed. "So if we beat the Immortals, everyone'll be saved!"

"Good job, Yusei," Crow congratulated.

"It's too early to celebrate," Yusei replied. "In order to close the Doors of the Underworld, two more towers have to be sealed, and there are still three Dark Signers out there." As he spoke, Trudge felt something bite him and the Spider Mark lit on his arm. Yusei noticed this, and backed away. "Get back, guys!"

_"Yusei,"_ Trudge said in a dark voice. _"I see you have defeated Kalin."_

"Roman," Yusei spat. "I should've known!"

_"I just hope you are ready for your next challenge,"_ the Dark Signer boasted through the officer, _"Come to the site of the old Enerdy Reactor to settle our score."_ The spider controlling Trudge shattered into dust and the Spider Mark faded away.

It's gotta be a trap, Yusei," Crow said.

"Yeah, but if he can defeat Earthbound Immortal Uru, then all the souls sacrificed to it will come back…" Kurogasa reminded him, "Rally, Martha… he could save them all."

"And we should go settle things right now..."

Back in New Domino City...

"Angela Rains here, reporting from New Domino's West Fifth district," Angela said to her camera. "New Domino City has been placed under martial law following the declaration of a state of emergency by Director Goodwin yesterday during the widespread riots, and although those riots were put down by the intervention of the army, the state of emergency has not yet been revoked. Since Nazca Lines have begun appearing in the city, hundreds of people have gone missing, no one can be found, and Sector Security is offering no information!"

Lazar sighed as he watched the broadcast before switching off the TV with a snap of his fingers. It was just another report about the mysterious symbols appearing in the sky and imprinting on the ground, with numerous people missing afterwards. He strode to the far wall of the room, and tapped a panel, opening a hidden door into another room, which he entered.

"Has Rex already left?" a man shrouded in shadow said from a screen within.

"Yes, just moments ago," Lazar replied. "Is Yliaster planning to offer any intervention?" The man seemed to think for a moment.

"Were the situation to reach a certain severity, then we might be convinced to dispatch aid," he finally said. "We have considered the option of the Emperors intervening if the Signers should fail." Lazar shuddered. He didn't personally know the Emperors of Yliaster due to the organization's secretive nature, but he had heard of them by reputation, and what he heard was not exactly favorable. "Regardless, Lazar, do you not trust in Rex and Roman?"

"I have some doubts," Lazar murmured.

"We have to place our hopes in them," the man said. "We have waited twenty years ever since the brothers turned over a new page in history." Lazar nodded and laughed.

Two helicopters touched down beside the Old Enerdy Reactor crater, and Rex stepped from one as eight armed guards immediately disembarked from the two helicopters, forming a secure perimeter very quickly and with military precision. The director pulled a remote control from his pocket and activated it, a tunnel opening up in the earth to descend into the reactor complex.

"Captain, please take your men and withdraw," Goodwin said.

"New Domino City is currently going through a bizarre phenomenon like nothing ever seen before," the captain replied, glancing around warily. "Our duty is to ensure your safety, director, even at the cost of our lives."

"Against this opponent, bullets and explosives are of little use," Rex warned.

"Regardless, sir, we have an obligation to defend you to the last, and we will fulfill that obligation whether you believe it necessary or not."

"Very well," Goodwin sighed. "Please take great care, captain."

"I shall, sir," the captain replied. "Men, form up! I want a protective cordon on director Goodwin!" The men formed up around the director and the captain, before they all advanced into the tunnel…

They soon came into the room with the great table, where Roman sat.

"Ah, Rex, you made it," the Dark Signer welcomed. "We must talk, but first, what about your guards?" The soldiers already had their weapons out and aimed at him, though the presence of a baby was giving them some pause for thought, which was probably the reason they weren't firing yet. Well, that and the fact Goodwin hadn't ordered them to open fire.

"It is their duty to protect me," Rex replied calmly.

"This must be a private discussion," Roman replied. "Don't worry… I see no need in the wasting of such minor lives." There was a hiss and Ground Spider exploded from the darkness, barreling into one soldier while the rest pulled back to open fire, but a second spider appeared and together they sprayed webbing onto the soldiers, wrapping them into tight cocoons of webbing.

"I stayed alive in order to fulfill a promise, and I've thrown away my future as Security director," Rex said, crossing his arms as he stared at his brother. "I've brought the Signers together to fight the 5000 year old war once more..."

"There's not a single moment you could have forgotten the promise from back then," Roman replied, standing. "I opened Pandora's Box seventeen years ago, but like Pandora, I left Hope." He raised his mechanical left arm to show it to Rex. "This body won't last much longer… I must discover out of the Signers of the Crimson Dragon and the Dark Signers of the Earthbound Immortals… which is the creator, and which the destroyer? The destiny of seventeen years ago is still alive today, and Dr. Fudo's will lives on in his son, Yusei. If I am defeated here, you must tell Yusei of that account." He activated his Duel Disk.

"I have thought about it these past seventeen years," Rex murmured. "And I have come to a conclusion… an alternate possibility you did not think of." He raised his mechanical left arm, which expanded into a Duel Disk…

Yusei, Kurogasa and Crow brought their Runners to a halt before dismounting, as Trudge, Leo and Luna all got out of the car. They stood on the edge of the immense crater, staring down into it.

"There's the Enerdy Reactor built by Yusei's father," Luna murmured.

"It's that Reactor that caused the Zero Reverse, and why our cities are split in two now," Trudge said from behind her.

"Can't imagine how it looked when it started at this place," Kurogasa stated, looking the destroyed area.

"It's huge…" Leo said in awe at the sheer scale of the crater.

"I heard that a giant meteor crashed down here and made this crater," Luna added. They followed Trudge, Kurogasa and Yusei down the stairway into the crater, while Crow noticed the helicopters and the tunnel nearby.

"The Public Security Maintenance Bureau… I'd better check this out," he mused, sprinting towards the tunnel…

At the bottom of the stairway, Yusei, Kurogasa, Leo, Luna and Trudge found themselves standing at one end of the rope bridge spanning the crater. A dark laugh echoed from the darkness as Roman stepped onto the bridge from the opposite end.

"So you sent Kalin into the Underworld," the Spider Dark Signer said to Yusei.

"You're wrong," Yusei replied. "Between Kalin and I, there was no hatred. It was your fault for twisting our misunderstanding!"

"You and Kalin were fated to be bound by hate, Yusei! The original Enerdy Reactor was built through sadness and hate, like Dr. Fudo and I!" He pressed a switch in his hand and far below them; the reactor was ripped apart by a fiery explosion as a fountain of Enerdy itself erupted into the world, forming a swirling pool of rainbow light down beneath them. "This is the door to the alternate possibility that your father and I found seventeen years ago, Yusei! Within the light of Enerdy lies the power to change the world! It holds the power to rule the world!"

"Will that light take more victims?" Kurogasa snarled, recalling Martha and Rally's deaths. Not to mention his parents being revived as Dark Signers, "We'll never let you get away with you've done!"

"In order for the alternate possibility, there are always small sacrifices, and people are just small existences in the great container called fate," Roman said dismissively. "Before fate, lives will disappear like trash, and the light of Enerdy is fate itself, and alive. The light swallowed your father's fate and became alive!"

"You're crazy!" Yusei shouted, activating his Disk. "I won't allow you to do any more harm than you already have! For Martha, and Rally, for everyone you took away from us, I'll end this here and now!" He drew his opening hand.

"I'll bury you inside the light as well!" Roman proclaimed, activating his own Disk and drawing his own opening hand.

"DUEL!"

**Yusei:** 4000

**Roman:** 4000

"I'll begin this duel," Roman announced, drawing his sixth card. "And I'll just end it with one card facedown..." He concluded as a reversed card appeared at his feet. "I can't wait to see who destiny favors..."

"Just a facedown card?" Trudge wondered. "Is that a trap that'll protect him?"

"I bet it's something far worse..." Kurogasa replied. "A way to summon his Earthbound Immortal quickly like he did before we set out for the reactors..."

Yusei had similar thoughts, _'He's right... just one card facedown is way too easy for a direct attack. But I have to take that chance in striking down his life points and end this quickly.'_ "Ore no ta-n!" Yusei declared. He then drew his sixth card, and held up another. "I discard Level Eater in order to Special Summon Quickdraw Synchron from my hand!" He announced as he sent the former mentioned monster to his graveyard and brought out his gunslinger synchron. (5/700/1400) "Next, I activate Level Eater's effect! By lowering a Level 5 or higher monster level by 1, I can special summon it to the field!" A white light erupted from the Synchron's stomach... (5-4/700/1400) and that light transformed into a red ladybug with start on its back... (1/600/0) "Now I tune Level 1 Level Eater with my Level 4 Quickdraw Synchron, acting as Junk Synchron!"

Quickdraw Synchron fired off a few rounds, becoming 4 green rings that encircled the Level Eater, becoming one star.

_"Tsudoishi hoshi ga, aratana chikara o yobiokusu! Hikari sasu michi to nare! Shinkuro Shoukan! Ideyo, Jyanku Woria!"_

The light erupted from the rings and brought out the signature purple-armored warrior, striking a fighting pose. (5) (ATK: 2300/DEF: 1300)

"Now attack Roman directly!" He commanded as the Synchro Warrior jumped into the sky and dived at the Dark Signer with a devastating punch. Roman quickly blocked with his marked arm and pushed Junk Warrior back to Yusei.

**Yusei:** 4000

**Roman:** 1700

"Alright, he scored the first major attack!" Leo cheered.

Roman then chuckled darkly, "And because of that, he activated the trap card I had!" He then revealed his facedown card depicting a man with glowing, red eyes. He had dropped his shield and sword unaware of the two giant wolf eyes behind him. "Thanks to the direct attack, I can special a Level 1 monster from my hand and deck provided that they are the same monster! So I summon two Dark Spiders!"

Kurogasa growled in anger, seeing the same spiders from the first duel against the Dark Signer. (1/0/0) x2

"I knew it..." He stated. "Yusei's in trouble..."

"What are you talking about?" Leo wondered. "Those spiders don't have any attack points... Yusei can beat them in no time."

"Think about it, Leo," Luna interrupted. "He willingly took a direct attack to summon two monsters..."

"That's right," Trudge added. "And from what we've seen from the Dark Signers, it takes two monsters to summon an Earthbound Immortal."

"Which means you and Leo stick close to us," Kurogasa replied.

"I set one card facedown," Yusei concluded, setting a reverse card. "Get ready, you guys!"

"Watashi no ta-n!" Roman announced and drew his next card. "I activate the Field Spell, Spider Web!" He shouted, inserting his card and caused the bridge to be surrounded by the giant spider's web. But the difference was that the Enerdy below made it multicolored. "Now that you all are nothing but flies caught in the web, I release both my Spiders!" Up above the field, the Earthbound Immortal heart pulsated and collected a dark smoke filled with souls.

_"Waga unmei no hikari ni hisomishi mouja-tachi no tamashii yo! Ruten-naru kono sekai ni ankoku no shinjitsu wo michibakutame, ware ni chikara o ataeyo! Araware o! Jibakushin Uru! "_ (1)

Once it erupted in dark purple flames, it unleashed the gigantic spider Immortal, latching on to the threads of the field spell, like it was its own personal web. (10/3000/3000) Already Kurogasa's and Luna's marks encased them, Leo, and Trudge in a protective barrier that blocked the non-Signers from being absorbed.

"Fate and destiny is on my side!" Roman roared in victory. "Now I can use my Immortal's ability of attacking you directly! Web of Destruction!" the Spider reeled back its head and unleashed another web from its mouth, heading straight for the Tail Signer.

"I activate Synchro Barrier!" Yusei countered, revealing his trap card. Like a chain reaction, Junk Warrior stepped in front of his master and transformed into a protective shield that destroyed Uru's thread. "This trap reduces the damage to 0 by releasing Junk Warrior, Synchro Monster!"

"That was fast thinking." Kurogasa sighed. "Just keep up your defenses..."

"He'll only delay the inevitable, Mr. Kururugi." the Dark Signer smirked as he inserted three cards, one of them a spell card, "I'll set two cards facedown and activate the continuous spell card, Destiny Trigger! With it, sending the top card of my Deck to the Graveyard," He placed Dark Tuner Spider Cocoon into the Graveyard. "Then, if you should draw a card of the same type as my card, a monster, then Destiny Trigger is destroyed and your Life Points are halved!"

"He's banking on Yusei's life points becoming 2000 before Uru strikes again." the Haos duelist figured. "Yusei needs a spell or trap to hang on..."

"Better if it's one that can protect or help destroy Uru," Luna added.

"Ore no ta-n!" Yusei called, pulling the card from his Deck and revealing it as a trap known as Shooting Star due to Destiny Trigger.

"So your luck stands firm this turn." Roman murmured. "But then Destiny's toying with you..."

"You shouldn't let your guard down yet, Yusei." Trudge muttered.

"I place one card facedown and summon Speed Warrior!" Yusei announced, setting his card and bringing out his white armored speed fighter emerged. (2/900/400) "Next, I move on to the Battle Phase and double its ATK using his special ability!" Speed Warrior became surrounded in a blue aura. (2/900-1800/400) "And while I can't attack your Immortal, since it's the only monster on your side, he's unable to defend you! Speed Warrior, let him have a direct attack!"

The white armored warrior dashed and jumped into the sky...

"If it hits, it's all over!" Trudge cheered.

"I don't think so!" Roman shouted, revealing a facedown card. It was trap depicting Ccarayhua unleashing a massive roar. "I activate the continuous trap card, Roar of the Earthbound! From now on, any monster you use to attack while I have an Earthbound Immortal is destroyed if it is weaker than mine and you take damage equal to half the destroyed monster's ATK!"

Uru looked up at the warrior trying to clear the distance over it and let out a massive roar whose winds shattered it and blew across Yusei for damage.

**Yusei:** 3100

**Roman:** 1700

"And now, I move again! Watashi no ta-n!" Roman continued, drawing his next card. "I wonder how many direct attacks you can block... Let's find out!" Uru needed no other incentive as it launched another rain of thread towards Yusei.

"I activate Spirit Force!" the Signer countered, revealing his facedown card.

"And I counter with a counter trap card, Earthbound Wave!" the Dark Signer interrupted, showing his other facedown that showed a cracked and lava filled world. "With my Earthbound Immortal in play, I can cancel out your trap!"

Everyone gasped as Yusei's trap shattered and the thread dealt a forceful shot to his body, knocking him on his back.

**Yusei:** 100

**Roman:** 1700

"Yusei!" the twins cried.

"This is bad." Trudge added. "He can't take another attack!"

As the Tail Signer struggled to get on his feet, the Spider Dark Signer relished it, "Get up and fight back, Signer so I destroy you... just like I did your father!"

Elsewhere...

Crow strode briskly through the tunnels of the Enerdy Reactor Complex, glancing around as he did so. He entered an old office room, and immediately noticed the photograph on a desk, which he walked over to and picked up, brushing off seventeen years of dust.

"Who are these people?" he murmured, looking down at the photograph…

Back to the duel...

Yusei stood up, getting ready to draw a card... but waited.

"Scared are we?" Roman taunted as he set a card and signaled the end of his turn. "It shouldn't matter if your life points are cut in half, as your score is dismal to begin with..."

"He's right, Yusei!" Kurogasa stated, getting everyone to look at him.

"What are you saying?" Leo shouted.

"It's only 50 life points," the Haos duelist stated, "As long as it's not 0, he still got the drive to beat this guy..."

"Ore no ta-n!" Yusei declared, only to grimace as he revealed Zero Gardna.

"The effect of Destiny Trigger activates!" Roman declared as the card shattered and Yusei screamed as he was engulfed in dark purple flame that seared into him.

**Yusei:** 50

**Roman:** 1700

Quickly, Yusei shook it off and played the card he just summoned. "I set one card and summon Zero Gardna in defense mode!" the Signer called, setting one card and playing another. A strange blue drone with wings and a propeller appeared, holding up a large concrete block with its spindly arms (1/0/0). "Now I end my turn!"

"You still have the will to fight?" Roman said, surprised. "Your will is just like your father's… after seventeen years, the Signer to fight against me is Dr. Fudo's son… I feel a strong sense of fate…"

"I don't have any fate with the likes of you," Yusei replied. "Not after everything you've stolen from my friends and I, Roman."

"Your Life Points will shatter under a single blow from my Immortal, and then your soul shall vanish into the light of Enerdy," Roman replied. "Let me tell you a story of seventeen years ago, Yusei. Your father, Dr. Fudo, was the leading man in quantum physics, and he discovered the Planetary Particle in what was called the Yusei Project."

"What's a Planetary Particle?" Luna asked.

"The Planetary Particle, much like a planetary gear, binds particles together with other particles," Roman explained. "Dr. Fudo gave his son the name of his project in the hopes that someday, like how the particle binds particles together, that son could connect people with bonds. That Planetary Particle was the stepping-stone that led to the discovery of Enerdy itself. Dr. Fudo created a theory, and launched development on a method of non-polluting, limitless energy development – the Enerdy Reactor."

"My brother and I, were researchers at the time, but we were all impressed by Dr. Fudo's research, and eventually we managed to become his assistants. The doctor would talk about the possibilities of his research like a bright-eyed little boy… he believed in the future the reactor could create. The research was still going well at that time."

"At that time?" Yusei repeated. "What went wrong?"

"It started with abnormal energy readings on the sensors, unexplainable readings," Roman replied. "Seismic activity began to increase in regularity, and then abnormal weather began to affect the city. It soon became clear that these phenomenons were tied directly to the Enerdy Reactor itself."

Then he took his mind back, remembering those days…

Flashback- 17 years ago

_"The experiments must be stopped?" he exclaimed in shock, staring in Dr. Fudo in horror._

_"It's out of hand," the man replied. "I don't know what it's due to, but I'm positive the abnormalities in the city are connected to the Enerdy Reactor."_

_"Dr. Fudo's right," someone added from behind Roman. He glanced back to see his brother, Rex Goodwin._

_"Rex… you can't let all of our good work go to waste…" Roman said, his world ripped apart by the revelation that all their work was to be undone. He shook his head._

_"I don't want to let go either, Roman, but we have no choice."_

_"I know that all our research will be lost, but as long as the city's safety is in question, I cannot in good conscience continue to endanger the citizens," Dr. Fudo said firmly. "I'm sorry, Roman, but it cannot be allowed." _

_After that, Roman had investigated every piece of data available to him feverishly, trying desperately to find something, anything to salvage the project. He had come across reports of strange abnormalities happening in another region of the world – the Nazca Lines in Peru. And so he had journeyed to the Nazca Lines in search of answers…_

_He had soon discovered the legend of a battle of the Gods 5000 years before, and learned of the sealing of evil deities sealed within the Lines themselves battling a great Crimson Dragon for supremacy of the world. _

_One day, he had travelled to the Nazca Lines. Walking from his jeep, he was met by a white-suited man, whose face was concealed by shadows._

_"I am from Yliaster," the man said. "It's a shame that the research on the Enerdy Reactor is to be halted."_

_"How do you know about that?" Roman gasped._

_"Do you wish to continue the research?" the man asked. "The research must continue, even if you must get rid of Dr. Fudo."_

_"What are you talking about?"_

_"In the light of Enerdy, there are possibilities even you can't imagine, and we of Yliaster believe that you, Roman Goodwin, are a true genius that should be in the front page of the history books."_

_"What do you mean by that?" The man answered by pointing to the crimson mark on Roman's left arm, a mark in the shape of a dragon's head! "It's a mark I've had ever since I was born."_

_"Fate has already chosen you, and you can't run away from it."_

"You're the Fifth Signer!" Yusei cried out in shock.

_"Did the 5000 year battle between the Gods really happen, and is it going to happen again?" Roman asked the mysterious man._

_"That's something you should see with your own eyes, through the will of the light of Enerdy," the man replied with a laugh as a sandstorm whipped up and he disappeared into it._

_Roman returned to New Domino City with more questions than answers, but nonetheless he looked into the reactor's light, and when he did, dark purple light struck him, showing him visions of the great battle 5000 years before. The Enerdy Reactor was the key to unleashing the battle of the Gods once more…_

Crow still wandered the corridors of the facility, before entering a research room, where he found Rex.

"Director Goodwin!" he exclaimed. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I came here to say goodbye to my big brother," Rex murmured, staring down at the photograph of himself, Roman, and Dr. Fudo. "My brother was considered a genius at a young age, and I was very proud of him… but he took an unbelievable fate upon his shoulders…"

_"I'm going to stop the Enerdy research, no matter what!" Dr. Fudo insisted. _

_"You no longer have the authority to do that, Dr. Fudo," one of the black-suited agents replied. "You were relieved of your duties as a member of R.R.D. a short while ago."_

_"What?" _

_"We invested a great deal of money in the development of Enerdy, and your successor has already been decided," another agent explained._

_"Who is it?" Dr. Fudo asked. "Please… let it be someone with sense…" But his hopes were dashed when Roman stepped forwards with a sinister smirk. "Roman, what is the meaning of this?"_

_"You don't have the courage to see the truth," Roman said darkly. "I shall fill that role myself."_

_"I've already built control units for the reactor!" Dr. Fudo protested. "As long as you can't release the seals…!" His voice trailed off as Roman produced a fan of four Duel Monsters cards with a flourish, Stardust Dragon, Red Dragon Archfiend, Black Rose Dragon and Ancient Fairy Dragon._

_"These seals?" he replied, to which Dr. Fudo snatched the four cards out of his hand and sprinted for the exit. The agent s drew guns and opened fire, several bullets slamming into the scientist and making a single card fall from his grip – Ancient Fairy Dragon…_

_A short while later, Dr. Fudo collapsed before Rex._

_"Dr. Fudo!" Rex cried in shock, falling to a knee beside his former superior. "Who did this to you?"_

_"Rex… take these cards… stop the reactor…" Dr. Fudo gasped, passing the cards to Rex. "Roman won't… suspect you…" The younger Goodwin brother sprinted away, clutching the three cards like life itself._

_Rex then ran into the reactor control room to find Roman, who was placing his severed left arm into a container._

_"Take this," he said, clearly in pain as he passed the container to Rex. "Someday the Signers will appear, and no matter how many years it takes, you must gather them together and defeat me…"_

_"What are you talking about?" Rex said desperately._

_"Do as I say…" Roman said. "There are two Gods within my body… but I choose the path of darkness… take that arm and get out of here as fast as you can, while a part of me stays in control…" He produced a gun and pointed it at his brother. "Go, Rex, run!" Reluctantly, the younger Goodwin brother obeyed, sprinting away with tears in his eyes, understanding what his older brother was about to do…_

_Dr. Fudo weakly lifted the infant, year-old Yusei into an escape pod, before activating the seals that would protect the baby boy from the power of what Roman was about to unleash. Roman weakly staggered to the console of the reactor controls, pressing the button which would intensify the negative rotation to the reactor's breaking point._

_"This way… I'll be reborn… as a Dark Signer…" he whispered, watching the energy gauges enter critical… and then the world ended…_

End Flashback

"Back then, the Doors of the Underworld began to open due to the events of 5000 years ago," the Dark Signer told Yusei…

"So because of the Zero Reverse, my parents, Yusei's parents, and Jack's parents all died and the city was divided." Crow summed up from what Rex had just told him. "Even the legendary man couldn't stop the city from dividing in two." Something flickered across Rex's eyes at that.

"Do you know the identity of the man who flew from Daedalus Bridge?" he asked.

"No, but I can't forget his wish to make Satellite and New Domino into one someday," Crow replied. Rex gave a soft sigh.

"You have the same aspirations as Yusei," the director commented. "I have a message for him; if he defeats my brother, I shall be waiting for him." He pressed a panel on the wall and a door opened, the director slipping into the elevator, which closed shut.

"What was he talking about…?" Crow wondered.

"You're trying to act like a God!" Yusei accused. "How many lives do you have to take until you're satisfied?"

"My fate was already in the hands of the Gods when I realized it, and I chose the darkness within my heart myself!" Roman replied. "The world will be reborn soon."

"I end my turn!" Yusei shouted.

"Watashi no ta-n!" Roman declared, pulling the card from his Deck. "Earthbound Immortal Uru, attack him directly!" The Immortal blasted its deadly thread…

"I activate Zero Gardna's effect – by Releasing it, monsters I control cannot be destroyed in battle and I take no Battle Damage this turn!" Yusei retorted. Zero Gardna slung the concrete slab up, right into the path of the thread, which was blocked by the slab as the Gardna vanished.

"I end my turn with a reversed card!" Roman finished, placing the face-down card.

"If Yusei takes another attack, he'll lose!" Leo cried out.

"Believe in Yusei," Kurogasa murmured. "He won't lose..."

"Ore no ta-n!" Yusei declared. "I place two cards face-down and end my turn!" The reversed cards appeared before him.

"He's waiting for something…" Luna murmured.

"Watashi no ta-n!" Roman announced, drawing his card and inserting one spell car inside. "No more games! I activate Earthbound Whirlwind, destroying all of your Spell and Trap Cards since I have an Earthbound Immortal in play!" A howling tempest erupted…

"I activate my Trap Card, Starlight Road!" Yusei called revealing his facedown card. "Using this, when an effect would destroy two or more cards on my field, I can negate the effect and destroy that card!" A flash of white fire similar to the Cosmic Flare attack tore from Starlight Road and extinguished the whirlwind. "Now the final effect of Starlight Road activates, letting me Special Summon a specific monster from my Extra Deck!" He continued, playing a familiar white Synchro Monster card. "Go... Stardust Dragon!"

With a harmonious roar, Stardust Dragon appeared in an explosion of emerald power, shining with white starlight as its wings spread. (8/2500/2000)

"Alright, he's got his Synchro Monster out!" Kurogasa cheered.

"Roman's in trouble now!" Leo added.

Roman growled in delight, "As it should be... the Earthbound Immortal vs. the Signer Dragon! But know this... the Dark Signers will win this day!"

"You won't as long as I'm standing here!" Yusei retorted, revealing his other facedown card. "I activate the Trap Card, Shooting Star! While I control Stardust Dragon, I can destroy one of your cards, like your Spider Web Field Spell!" A blast of radiant power ripped from Stardust Dragon, shooting to the heart of the Field Spell…

"If this works, Uru will be destroyed!" Trudge realized. Unfortunately...

"It's too late!" Roman snarled. "I activate the Trap Card, Anti-Emptiness! By reducing one of my monsters' attack points to zero, I can stop a card effect that would destroy one of my Spells or Traps!" Uru glowed with crimson energy, draining its ATK. (10/3000-0/3000) and Shooting Star shattered.

"It's never too late." Yusei replied.

"I end my turn!" Roman finished. The crimson glow faded from Uru, restoring its power. (10/0-3000/3000)

"Time for that miracle draw, Yusei," Kurogasa encouraged.

_'Tell me about it...'_ the Tail Signer thought, as he felt the pain he was enduring. _'Facing two Dark Signers, one after another is tough... but if Kurogasa was able to tough it out against two at the same time, then this will be alright...'_

"What now, Yusei?" Roman stated. "You give up!"

"Does this answer your question? Ore no ta-n!" Yusei shouted as he drew his next card. He then smirked and played it, "I activate the Spell Card, Battle Waltz!" He announced. "This summons a Waltz Token copy of a Synchro Monster I control!" A pale blue version of Stardust Dragon formed from white light beside the original (8/2500/2000). "Now, Waltz Token, attack Roman directly!"

"What?" Leo exclaimed in horror.

"That trap card is still in effect!" Luna added with the same horror.

"That's right!" Roman grinned. "I activate the effect of Roar of the Earthbound!"

"And I activate the effect of my Stardust Dragon!" the Tail Signer countered. "By releasing it, I can negate Roar of the Earthbound's effect and destroy it!"

Stardust Dragon stood in front of its double as it took Uru's roar and used its wings to reflect it back at the trap card, shattering it to pieces. The dragon then vanished, leaving its doppelganger to finish its job.

"I'm not done!" the Spider Dark Signer retaliated, revealing another facedown card. "I use the continuous trap card, Brilliant Shrine Art to make the attack target my Earthbound Immortal!" The Waltz Token blasted a Cosmic Flare at Uru, but the Immortal responded with a dozen spears of its thread that impaled and shattered the clone of Stardust Dragon.

"This is the end, but don't feel bad, for we have inscribed a glorious page in this world's history." Roman told Yusei. Then he realized Yusei had taken no damage.

"When a Waltz Token is destroyed, neither of us takes Battle Damage," the Signer explained. "But the monster that destroyed it loses attack points equal to the destroyed token's points!" Roman cried out in shock as he beheld Uru coated in white fire (10/3000-500/3000).

"I don't care about my fate!" Yusei continued. "And because of your fate, there have been many victims. You've forgotten what the survivors are going through, and if my father hadn't had his experiments, the incident seventeen years ago would never have happened. That experiment took the lives of Jack's and Crow's parents as well. If it never happened, everyone would have had loving parents and a happy life. Why do they look at me as a friend, why don't they bare any bad feelings and support me – what am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to tell them I'm sorry? Give me an answer, Roman!"

"Is that the darkness within your heart?" Roman wondered.

"I'll give you your answer!" Crow called up to Yusei from a tunnel entrance below, just above the pool of Enerdy. "I didn't know you were shouldering those feelings, and I'm sorry. Even though I'm your friend, I never noticed, but I never thought my life was ruined because of you or your father. That's why you don't have to feel responsible, and if there was any fate for me, it was only having met you, Jack, and so many others. Win this Duel for all our sakes, the living _and_ the dead."

"Crow…" Yusei said staring at his friend for a while before turning back to the duel. "He's right. The one illuminating my heart isn't the Enerdy's light," Yusei said to Roman. "It's my irreplaceable friends, and this Duel is my final hope! For everyone your 'fate' tore apart, I'll end this here and now!" He then revealed his final facedown card, "I activate Stardust Flash! During the turn Stardust Dragon use its effect, I can immediately summon him from the graveyard!" From a white flash, Yusei's Signer Dragon returned to the sky. (8/2500/2000).

"Game over, Roman..." Kurogasa said softly.

"Stardust Dragon, attack Earthbound Immortal Uru with Cosmic Flare!"

Stardust Dragon gave an almighty roar and unleashed the vibrant flare of silver-white flame from its maw, consuming Uru, which gave an earth-shaking shriek of outrage and agony before shattering into burning shadows. Roman gave a cry of despair as the flames slammed into him, sending him crashing back along the bridge as his life points depleted…

**Yusei:** 50

**Roman:** 0

But even as Yusei stood victorious, everyone was surprised as they Roman's dark laughter.

"This isn't the end," the Dark Signer laughed as he stood up weakly. "An ultimate God has already been unleashed." He began to crumble to dust as he spoke. "If all four units are not controlled by sunset today, the King of the Underworld shall rise!" He took the Duel Disk from his arm and ripped it off, hurling it away. "I won't allow you to leave this place!"

He pulled a switch on his mechanical arm and ripped it off. An explosion ripped across the bridge, shattering it and sending Yusei tumbling down into the light of the Enerdy.

**"YUSEI!"** Kurogasa, Trudge, Leo, Luna and Crow screamed as one…

As he fell, everything seemed to slow down for the Signer. He quickly realized there was no way to escape his plummet into the Reactor, as he fell through the howling air down into the pool of Enerdy…

Outside the crater, the Spider geoglyph faded away as purple light flared in the streets forming into the people once sacrificed to Earthbound Immortal Uru.

Martha stood with Rally, staring up at the black sky.

"I was… saved…?" Martha murmured. "Yusei…"

There you go people, got another chapter done. Again, thank Duelist of Dawn for the chapter.

(1)- O souls of the dead who lurk in my light of destiny! Grant me the power to lead the dark truth in this protean world! Appear now, Earthbound Immortal Uru!


	41. Chapter 38: Fortune Fatality

Here ya go people, another chapter made by Duelist of Dawn. Credit him for the chapter. Now on, with the story!

Disclaimer: Same thing.

Chapter 38: Fortune Fatality

With roaring engine, the Wheel of Fortune rushed up the slope, smashing through the rock formations that blocked its path as Jack's ruthless determination to reach the Hummingbird Tower and Carly led him to push the Duel Runner practically to its limits. He finally launched the Runner over the top of the slope, and crashed down, skidding to a halt a short distance from the monolithic form of the Hummingbird tower.

"Carly!" he shouted. "Answer me if you're here!" As he spoke, he placed a hand into his pocket and closed his fingers tightly around her glasses, remembering all the good times they had spent together. Then his concentration was broken by the roar of a Duel Runner's engine, as a sleek dark red Runner similar in design to Kalin's shot around from behind the tower, skidding before shooting right at him… Then it skidded again to come to a stop side-on a short distance from him, and Jack gasped at the sight of Carly astride the Runner, taking in the machine's geoglyph signs, and the similar patterns on Carly's crimson helmet before she took it off, staring him straight in the eye, orange meeting violet.

"I've been waiting for you," she said coolly.

"Are you _really_ Carly…?" the Wings Signer murmured.

"Yes," the Hummingbird Dark Signer replied. "In order to see you again, I have returned from the bowels of death as a Dark Signer."

"What are you talking about?" he wondered.

"I infiltrated the Arcadia Movement, and was killed by Sayer."

"What? Why?" Jack gasped in shock.

"I wanted to get closer to you, just a little," Carly told him darkly.

"I thought you were sacrificed to the Earthbound Immortals… that if I defeated the Dark Signers, I could save you and turn you back to normal!"

"Have you no intention of fighting me?"

"If you draw a bow against me, I'll break its arrows by force!" Jack said.

"You're right… since I'm a Dark Signer, and you're a Signer, we're bound to each other by a twisted fate!" Purple flames erupted, tracing the form of the Hummingbird geoglyph across the earth.

Meanwhile…

Mina and Akiza were driving until they stopped seeing the Hummingbird Geoglyph in the sky.

"Isn't that-" Mina began.

"Yeah. It's started-" Akiza answered.

"Jack…" Mina said with worry.

Back at the geoglyph…

"Our destined Duel can begin!" They started their Runners. "If you can win, I shall return to normal, but if I win, then you'll become a Dark Signer!"

"I accept," Jack replied.

"Very well. You know, Fate is ironic," Carly chuckled with a hint of amusement. "I turned into a Dark Signer in order to chase after you, and now you're the one chasing after me."

"What are you talking about?" Jack replied.

"You can't escape fate… your duelist's instinct wouldn't let you refuse a Duel, and I expected that from the man I've chosen."

"If that's what you desire, I'll take you on in your destined Duel!" Jack shouted. "FI-RUDO MAHO! SUPIDO WARUDO! SETTO ON!" Jack pressed a button his runner.

**DUEL MODE. AUTOPILOT ON. STAND BY. **

Speed World came into effect around them.

"RIDING DUEL, ACCELERATION!"

With that, their Runners shot off, Carly smashing Jack aside with her Runner to take the first corner and hence the first turn.

**Jack:** 4000/**SPC:** 0

**Carly:** 4000/**SPC:** 0

"I shall take the first move!" Carly announced drawing her sixth card. "I summon Fortune Lady Light!" In a flare of radiance, the golden-clad Fortune Lady appeared with a giggle, twirling her staff in her grip (1/?-200/?-200) "Next, I place two cards facedown and end my turn!" She concluded as two facedown cards appeared on the track before vanishing, "Bring it on, Jack!"

"Ore no taa-n!" Jack announced drawing his sixth card.

**Jack's SPC:** 1

**Carly's SPC:** 1

But after seeing the card, he calmly announces, "I end my turn."

"No monsters, or set cards?" Carly said in surprise and then laughed. "Have you _really_ prepared to accept your fate?" She then revealed a facedown card she had. "I activate Interdimensional Matter Transporter, removing Fortune Lady Light from play until the End Phase!" Light blew Jack a kiss as she faded away. "And because she was removed from the field by a card effect, I can Special Summon a Fortune Lady from my Deck, like Fortune Lady Earth!" Appearing in a flash of energy, a Fortune Lady clad in dark brown halter and skirt, swirl-pattern glasses like those that Carly once wore over her eyes. Her staff was tipped by an orb of amber surrounded by a twisted ring of the substance glaring at Jack. "And her ATK and DEF becomes her level times 400!" Earth powered up in a brown aura. (6/?-2400/?-2400). "Now because your turn's over, Light returns!" Fortune Lady Light reappeared beside her sister Earth (1/?-200/?-200).

"Watashi no ta-n!" the Dark Signer declared.

**Jack's SPC:** 2

**Carly's SPC:** 2

"During my Standby Phase, Ladies Light and Earth level up!" Fortune Ladies Light and Earth glowed with energy, powering themselves up. (1-2/200-400/200-400), (6-7/2400-2800/2400-2800) "And because Earth's Level increased, you take 400 damage!" Jack winced as a fiery red aura surrounded him.

**Jack:** 3600/**SPC:** 2

**Carly:** 4000/**SPC:** 2

"Brace yourself, because this will continue to hurt! Fortune Lady Earth, attack him directly with Cursed Thorn!" Earth slammed her staff into the ground, sending it smashing upwards into Jack as a barrage of thorns, the Signer screaming in pain as they ripped into him.

**Jack:** 800/**SPC:** 0

**Carly:** 4000/**SPC:** 2

As blood poured down Jack's face from a jagged cut on his forehead, he gazed at Carly. "She isn't the type of girl who would hurt others…" He then held up a card in his hand. "I activate the effect of Gorz the Emissary of Darkness from my hand and summon it to the field because of direct damage while I had nothing on the field!" The new monster was a warrior with spiky red hair appeared. He wore silver armor over his red coat and black pants. He roared as he took his blades and crossed them. (7/2700/2500)

"And then, because the damage was from a battle I can summon an Emissary Token with ATK and DEF of the same amount of damage I took!" Appearing next to her was a female warrior with black hair down to her shoulders. She also wore silver armor over her clothes, which was a black shirt and battle dress. (7/2800/2800)

"So you're resisting in the end," the impressed Carly said. "But you cannot escape fate! I place one card facedown and switch Light to defense mode to end my turn!" She concluded. "Attack me if you dare!"

"Ore no taa-n!" Jack announced, drawing his next card.

**Jack's SPC:** 1

**Carly's SPC:** 3

"I summon Power Supplier!" He continued, summoning a man with wild blue hair appeared, dressed in a purple blazer, white pants and black boots. Strapped to his shoulders were two green capsules, connecting to a brown, rifle-like injector gun. (2/400/400) "Once per turn, he can boost the ATK of a monster by 400!"

"Not this turn!" Carly smirked, revealing her facedown card, "I activate Bending Destiny! I can use this trap to negate the Normal Summoning of a monster and remove it from play!" Power Supplier gasped as a flash from the trap card sucked him in. "But don't worry, it comes back to your hand during the End Phase..." Jack sighed, and took three of his cards and inserted them into his Runner. "I place three cards facedown and end my turn!" Soon, a flash appeared his hand which dropped the Power Supplier monster card.

"Watashi no ta-n!" Carly announced.

**Jack's SPC:** 2

**Carly's SPC:** 4

"Now, my monster's level increases!" Fortune Ladies Light and Earth glowed golden and brown to boost their powers. (2-3/400-600/400-600), (8-9/2800-3200/2800-3200) But then the burning aura returned to the Wings Signer, stinging him of his points.

**Jack:** 400/**SPC:** 2

**Carly:** 4000/**SPC:** 4

"Time for the end, my dear Jack... Fortune Lady Earth, attack the Emissary Token with Cursed Thorn!" Carly commanded as her powerful Fortune Lady slammed her staff into the ground, creating more jagged spikes approaching the Signer...

"I reveal my trap card, the Altar for Tribute!" Jack countered, revealing his trap card. "I release my Emissary Token in order to gain its ATK for my life points!" the trap card flashed, turning the female Emissary into golden sparkles to heal Jack of his life points.

**Jack:** 3200/**SPC:** 2

**Carly:** 4000/**SPC:** 4

"But remember, a change in a number of monsters means a Replay!" the Hummingbird Dark Signer announced, "So Earth attacks Gorz, instead!" The thorns soon changed course and Gorz was impaled on the thorns, before Jack cried out as they slammed into him, knocking his Runner crashing down onto its side.

**Jack:** 2700/**SPC:** 2

**Carly:** 4000/**SPC:** 4

"I'll be damned if I give in!" the Wings Signer snarled, straining until he managed to lift his Duel Runner back upright.

"Our true fate can begin very soon," Carly replied, skidding to a stop beside him.

"There's no fate!" Jack replied. "With my own hands, I'm going to open your eyes!"

"You're the one who should open your eyes!" the Dark Signer said. "This Duel is a fight for us to be together! Once this match is settled, we're promised to eternal fate, the cards told me so!" She looked down at her face-down, "I've been fortune-telling with my Deck… I activate the Trap Card, Enlightenment!" The Trap lifted up and Jack was blinded by searing white light…

Meanwhile...

Yusei groaned and opened his eyes, finding himself in a grim, dark, desolate wasteland. "Am I… dead…?" he murmured, glancing around. Suddenly, ghostly figures erupted from the ground around him, moaning and staring at Yusei with their black, empty eyes as they advanced towards him. One grabbed him by the arm and he tried to shake it off.

"Get off me!" Then his sight went blank, before he saw the immense white-hot explosion of the Zero Reverse, the deaths of those caught in the searing blast. "You're… the ones who… died that day…" The ground started to open beneath him, pulling him into the earth as the revenants continued to advance…

Back to Jack and Carly...

_"Wake up, Jack…" The young man groaned and sat up, taking in the large black-dressed king-size bed he was lying on._

_"You had quite a nightmare." He turned to see Carly in her Dark Signer attire, the Mark of the Hummingbird burning brightly on his arm. "Did you have a bad dream?"_

_"What… is this place…?" he groaned. He looked down and was stunned to see the Hummingbird mark in place of the Wings Mark of the Dragon. "I'm… a Dark Signer?"_

_"Are you still seeing some of your dream?"_

_"What's going on here?" he demanded. He stood up and looked at himself in a mirror on the wall, seeing his jet-black clothes, and his black and orange eyes, the signs of a Dark Signer._

_"Remember… your soul's been lost once before," Carly told him… The spikes of Cursed Thorn impaled into Jack, sending the Wheel of Fortune flying as the Signer crashed to the ground. Carly skid her Runner to a stop, hurling herself from it over to him. She took him in her arms, holding him tenderly as she felt his heart stop beating. Then she pressed her lips to his in a passionate kiss, causing the Hummingbird mark to ignite in purple fire on his arm…_

_"This can't be!" he snarled, stalking out of the room onto a balcony, where he beheld the Hell born of the Dark Signers' victory. Volcanoes dominated the land, pools and rivers of lava crisscrossing the scorched and shattered earth. Nothing living had survived the devastation. Carly walked onto the balcony beside him. "The 5000 year battle against the Signers was won with you by our side, Jack." They looked on as Stardust Dragon, Red Dragon Archfiend, Black Rose Dragon and Ancient Fairy Dragon sank into a lake of fire with screams of terrible agony._

_"Because of our victory…" Jack murmured, recalling, "This world has become Hell itself…"_

_"You're the Dark King, High Ruler of Hell," Carly told him._

_"Death has opened my eyes… I don't need friends, bonds or tepid harmony!" Jack proclaimed. "It's only in this hell-like world where heights sought by a true king lie!"_

_"This is the world we truly desired," Carly smiled. _

But back in reality, the light of Prophecy of a Future King blinded Jack, poisoning his mind with the vision. "When I chose this card, I was able to understand why I became a Dark Signer and what I could gain by fighting you, so we could go to our ideal future!" Carly declared. "By the effect of Enlightenment, as long as I haven't summoned this turn, when a Spellcaster Type I control destroys a monster in battle, it can attack again right away! Fortune Lady Earth, make my future the truth! Attack with Cursed Thorn!"

As the spikes shot towards him, Carly's glasses slipped from Jack's pocket…

_Jack and Carly as Dark Signers were carried upon a throne by four grey-skinned zombies, as more zombies in armor formed ranks of warriors' miles long._

_"Everything in this world has pledged allegiance to you as Dark King," Carly said._

_"All the humans are gone…" As he murmured the words, Jack noticed Carly's glasses on the ground and a flood of memories swirled into his mind, memories of the true Carly… "This isn't the world you truly desired…"_

Back in reality…

Jack finally snapped out of it. "I activate the Trap Cards, Change Destiny and Card of Last Will!" he shouted, the Traps lifting up allowing him five cards into his hand and blocking the Cursed Thorn from striking him. "Card of Last Will gives me five cards for my destroyed monster, but Change Destiny negates your attack and switches the attacking monster to defense mode!" The Cursed Thorn shattered and Lady Earth gave a snarl of rage as she was forced to kneel.

"Why are you trying to avoid fate?" Carly cried. "If I win, we can attain a blissful future!" Jack sighed, holding her glasses in his hand.

"This sham is not the future we're intended for!" he replied, and passion burned in every word. "You showed me what's real!" She gasped at the sight of her glasses. "But now my fate is in your hands, Carly… by the effect of Change Destiny, you can activate one of two effects. Either deal me damage equal to half of Lady Earth's attack points, or regain half her attack points as Life Points… your choice…"

In the Netherworld...

In the blasted wasteland, Yusei struggled both against the ground and the approaching revenants… "_He is innocent in the involvement of your deaths!"_ a voice called out. _"You must release him!"_ The revenants obeyed, stepping back and vanishing. A blinding light ignited, with a silhouette barely visible within the light. _"It's too soon for you to be here… Yusei…"_

"Who are you?" Yusei cried out to the person…

Back to the duel...

"Remember, Carly!" Jack urged, holding up her glasses. "The true Carly is still in there somewhere!"

"That can't be true!" she replied as both started their Runners and shot off again. "I came back as a Dark Signer so you and I could rule the world! This is what I desire – the fate appointed to us!"

"You're wrong!" Jack shouted. "You're the one who woke me up when I lost all direction after being toyed by a sham of fate!" At the words, she recalled that time atop the tower, how she had encouraged him to live and start anew. "I haven't forgotten what you said, and that's why I followed your advice and decided how I live myself! Change Destiny's second effect allows you to either deal me half of Earth's attack points as damage, or restore your Life Points by that amount." Carly's eyes widened in shock.

"Why don't you mind with taking damage when you were just squeezed with Earth's attack?" she asked.

"It's so I can teach you there's no such thing as an appointed fate, and that I believe in you," Jack said sincerely. "You must choose your own destiny!"

"You're a fool!" she declared with a dark smile. "By flustering you such a great deal, you've ended up following what I've said! This time, I'll make you mine!"

"I choose to inflict…" As she spoke, she stared into Jack's eyes and her voice trailed away as she remembered their good times together. "I choose to restore my own Life Points and leave yours untouched!" She glowed with green aura, sighing and closing her eyes.

**Jack:** 2700/**SPC:** 2

**Carly:** 5600/**SPC:** 4

She opened them up and her eyes returned to normal. "I… am…" she whispered."I don't want that kind of fight, Jack…"

"You're not the type of person to hurt others," he replied, smiling at her. Then he cried out in shock as darkness engulfed her form, a veil of shadow bursting into existence to cover her body.

**"I don't care about your desire!"** the dark voice that had spoken to Greiger hissed. **"This Duel is your fate appointed to you as a Dark Signer!"**

"Are you the one who dragged Carly into the darkness?" Jack roared in the shadows.

**"Continue the Duel and dispatch of the Signer,"** the shadows hissed. Carly's eyes turned dark and her mark blazed brightly.

"Unhand her!" Jack shouted.

**"I end my turn!"** Carly laughed darkly.

"Grr… Ore no taa-n!" Jack drew.

**Jack's SPC:** 3

**Carly's SPC:** 5

"I Special Summon Vice Dragon!" Jack called, bringing out his large purple dragon flying above him with his Duel Runner. (5/2000-1000/2400-1200) "Next, I summon Dark Resonator to the field!" He continued, summoning the fiendish Tuner (3/1300/300) "Now I tune my level 5 Vice Dragon with my level 3 Dark Resonator!" Jack said as the fiend hit the gold tuning fork with the stick that had the blue ball at one end. It turned into 3 green rings while Vice Dragon turned into 5 spheres of light. The spheres lined up in the tunnel of rings.

_"Ouja no kodou, ima kokoni retsu wo nasu! Tenchi meidou no chikara wo mirugaii! Shinkuro Shoukan! Waga tamashii, Reddo Dēmonzu Doragon!"_

With an almighty roar, the Jack's hellish dragon descended onto the field. (8/3000/2000)

**"The dragon, which proves you as a Signer, is finally here,"** Carly smirked. **"But it cannot save you from your fate!"**

"That's where you're wrong!" Jack snarled. "Red Dragon Archfiend, attack Fortune Lady Earth with Scorching Crimson Flare!" The dragon let loose with its flames, but Earth raised a barrier of Cursed Thorn that blocked the hellish fire.

**Jack:** 2500/**SPC:** 3

**Carly:** 5600/**SPC:** 5

"Now due to Red Dragon Archfiend's effect, all your defensive monsters are destroyed!" Jack shouted. "Absolute Power Force!" The dragon lashed out with a blazing strike of its talons, shattering Earth and Light.

**"I activate Light's special ability to summon Fortune Lady Fire!"** In a fiery prominence, the flaming Fortune Lady appeared. (2/?-400/?-400)

"With your Special Summon, I bring out my Extra Veiler from my hand!" the Wings Signer countered, summoning out a matador in a blue vest over a white shirt and black pants, holding a red banner and sword. (2/600/200)

**"It doesn't help when Fire's ability destroys one monster you control and damages you by its ATK,"** Carly boasted. **"And I think of none other than your Red Dragon Archfiend!"** Fortune Lady Fire blasted a super-dense sphere of fire from her staff, reducing the Signer's Synchro Monster to ashes and headed straight for Jack.

"I activate Extra Veiler's effect!" Jack announced as the named monster absorbed the fire sphere into his banner, much to the Dark Signer's dismay. "It takes the damage I would take and blast it back to you!" Extra Veiler flung his banner out to release the sphere and sent it crashing into Carly's duel runner, making her spin out before regaining ground.

**Jack: **2700/**SPC:** 3

**Carly:** 2300/**SPC:** 2

"I place one card facedown..." Jack concluded.

Back in the Netherworld...

Yusei hung suspended in the darkness, staring ahead at the light.

"Who are you?" he asked. He began to walk, coming to the silhouette.

_"You don't belong in this world just yet."_ He stared into the light, seeing a silhouette.

"Are you the one who guided my way?" he asked the silhouette. "Father…?" The silhouette stepped closer and became truly visible. It was indeed his father.

_"I'm sorry, my son,"_ Dr. Fudo said. _"Sorry for burdening you with such an outrageous destiny."_ With that, he began to fade.

"Father, wait!" Yusei cried.

_"Yusei!"_ Dr. Fudo called as the spirit began to fade away into the light, Yusei pursuing him. _"Destiny can and will be changed!"_

"Father!"

_"There are people truly waiting for you down the path you'll proceed,"_ his father continued... And with that, he was gone and Yusei's world faded to white light…

At the Old Enerdy...

Kurogasa and Crow gave a cry as light poured from the Enerdy, lifting Yusei's motionless form out of the pool of rainbow light. As he elevated to them, Kurogasa and Crow caught him, holding him.

"Wake up, Yusei..." Kurogasa murmured. The Tail Signer's eyes fluttered open and he groaned as his two friends helped him to stand.

"Am I… back…?" he groaned.

"Yeah," Crow laughed happily.

"Had us all scared," Luna added.

"We can't waste any more time," Kurogasa cut in.

"You're right," Yusei nodded. "There are still two more towers…

Back to the duel...

**"Before I draw, I activate Inherited Fortune,"** Carly announced, revealing her trap card. And then, she drew her next card.

**Jack's SPC:** 4

**Carly's SPC:** 3

Soon, Fire gained more power with a burning aura. (2-3/400-600/400-600) **"And now thanks to Inherited Fortune's effect, I can summon Fortune Lady Water to the field with 300 times her level as power!"** She announced as the blue coat wearing Fortune Lady appeared. (4/?-1200/?-1200**) "Now I use Water's effect to draw twice!"** She drew two cards and gave a dark smile. **"Serve as my sacrifice, Jack! I Release Fortune Ladies Water and Light to Advance Summon…!" **Water and Light faded into rainbow light that soared upwards and became an Earthbound Immortal heart, which soaked in the fog and began to beat…

_**"Gosennen no toki wo koe, meifu no tobira ga aku! Ware raga tamashii wo aratanaru sekai no kate tosurugaii! Kourinseyo! Jibakushin Asura Pisuku!"**_ (1)

The heart exploded into a pillar of purple fire, which broke as the Hummingbird Immortal, Asilla Piscu soared into the heavens with a piercing shriek with its orange markings glowing. (10/2500/2500)

"If the real Carly witnessed this… she'd blame and lament herself," Jack murmured to himself.

**"Next, I activate the Speed Spell – Speed Energy!" She continued, inserting her Speed Spell. "Since I have 3 counters, Asilla Piscu gains 600 ATK!"** a blast of golden energy surrounded the Earthbound Immortal, making it screech even more. (10/2500-3100/2500) **"You'll receive the judgment of Asilla Piscu!"** Carly declared. **"Attack directly!"** The Immortal shrieked, stabbing its beak down at Jack…

"I'll stop this evil power, or die trying!" Jack retorted. "I Special Summon Battle Fader from my hand, negating your direct attack and ending the Battle Phase!" A strange Fiend like a clock's pendulum with a bell on one of its arms appeared, shrieking from its bat-like face (1/0/0). Then Battle Fader began to strike its pendulum to its bell, creating immense sound-waves that knocked the huge form of Asilla Piscu away from Jack.

**"I end my turn with a face-down!"** Carly shouted, throwing the card face-down.

"I used to be a person who wouldn't give a thought about others, and I betrayed and hurt my friends," Jack said, envisioning Yusei, Crow, and others. "I was a man willing enough to sacrifice others for my own ambitions." He remembered taking Stardust Dragon from Yusei, and escaping through the trash pipeline. "But I learned from you that even a bruised and troubled heart can be saved by a truly considerate heart. Right now, I'm wishing with all my heart to save the person I truly love… you…"

He was surrounded by a fiery crimson aura… Yusei's Tail Mark began to glow with blazing fiery light.

"Our Marks!" Luna exclaimed as she looked at her Front Claw Mark.

"This feeling… it's like when I dueled Kalin…" he murmured, as Kurogasa's mark also began to glow.

"Then that means…" Crow began.

"Mm-hmm. Now it's Jack turn to use the power of Savior Dragon." Kurogasa said as all three marks vanished, along with the Rear Claw, Head and Wing marks… All six marks united; becoming one complete Crimson Dragon seal upon Jack's back. His Deck's top card lit with fiery crimson.

"This feeling..." Jack said. He then saw the top card glowing. "Heh, it looks like I can do the same thing like Kurogasa and Yusei! Ore no taa-n!" He announced and drew that card.

**Jack's SPC:** 5

**Carly's SPC:** 4

_"Jack... end this Duel,"_ Carly's voice spoke, and he saw her there, as she had been before Death and the Earthbound Immortals had taken her. _"I don't want to hurt you or anyone else anymore…"_

"Don't be ridiculous," Jack replied desperately. "There's got to be a way to save you, Carly!"

_"If you truly care for me, you'll end this Duel…"_

"If I do that, you'll be gone…"

_"This is the fate I choose for myself,"_ Carly murmured_. "You're truly considerate for me, and you must end it by your own hand."_ Jack was hesitant what he should her, but complied by nodding his head.

"I understand… if this is what you sincerely desire, then I'll do it," Jack told her.

_"Thank you…"_

"I have to pay you back by saving your life, as you saved mine…" the Wings Signer realized. "I summon Savior Dragon!" The shining tuner dragon appeared, shining with exalted radiance (1/0/0). "Now I tune the Level One Majestic Dragon, to the Level Eight Red Dragon Archfiend and Level One Battle Fader!" Savior Dragon expanded into crimson light that enveloped Red Dragon Archfiend and Battle Fader, reducing them to frameworks that shattered into nine glowing stars. The stars aligned with the Synchro Gate of Savior Dragon, before the Synchro Summon became a searing burst of power and light…

_"Kenma sareshi kokou no hikari, shin no hasha tonarite daichi wo terasu! Hikari kagayake! Shinkuro Shoukan! Ooinaru tamashii, Seivaa Demon Doragon!"_ (2)

In a flare of radiance, the third Majestic Dragon emerged, a mighty crystalline evolution of Red Dragon Archfiend, its form blazing crimson, with four large crystal wings. Its form was largely serpentine, three white horns upon its skull, a mane of blazing crimson coating its neck. Savior Demon Dragon roared, shining with blazing aura (10/4000/3000).

"Savior Demon Dragon's effect negates an opponent's monster's effects and adds that monster's attack points onto its own until the End Phase," Jack said. "Power Drain!" Crimson motes flew from Asilla Piscu, which shrieked in rage as Majestic Red Dragon shone with more intensity (ATK: 6500). "I'll finish this, just as you wish," the Wings Signer told her. "Carly… I'll save you! Savior Red Dragon, attack Earthbound Immortal Asilla Piscu with Ultimate Power Force!" The dragon's form shone with intense, solar radiance as it folded its wings, shooting at Asilla Piscu like a lance of light…

_"Jack… my real wish is that you become a true king, who'll be loved by everyone and makes everyone happy!"_ the true Carly called out, showing him a card depicting him surrounded by smiling, laughing children… Majestic Dragon stabbed into Asilla Piscu, unleashing fire and light through the Immortal, which shrieked as it was consumed, shattering into burning shadows as Savior Demon Dragon spread its wings and soared… while Carly's life points depleted.

**Jack:** 2700/**SPC:** 5

**Carly:** 0/**SPC:** 4

Savior Demon Dragon's light coalesced on the ground, forming into Jack, who sprinted to Carly as she collapsed.

"Where are you, Jack…?" she whispered.

"I'm here," the Signer said softly, taking her in his arms.

"I can't… see…" Then he tenderly placed her glasses over her eyes, letting her see him. "I loved to cheer on people who tried their hardest, like you… but when I tried to wish for such selfish happiness, I must have been wrong for doing so…"

"Everyone has a right to wish for happiness," he replied. "If you're saying that's a crime, then I'm guilty as well, Carly."

"I know you'll save the world," she breathed weakly. "I'll be cheering… you on after… all…" She wrapped him in a tight embrace, before falling back into his arms as she began to fade into dust. "Jack… I… love… you…" And then she was gone, merely dust in the wind as her glasses fell to the ground and a single tear fell onto them from Jack's eye, followed by another.

"Carly…" he whispered sorrowfully, as dust of light rained down from the heavens onto him… As Yusei, Crow, Leo, Luna, Trudge and Kurogasa emerged from the Old Enerdy, Yusei, Kurogasa and Luna's marks reappeared on their arms and they beheld the rain of light.

"Jack must have won his Duel," Luna murmured.

"Then that just leaves Misty," Kurogasa said.

"One more tower to seal and the Dark Signers' ambitions will be stopped," Yusei said.

There you go people. Again, thank Duelist of Dawn for this chapter.

(1)- Transcending five thousand years' time, the doors of the underworld will open once more. May our souls be the food of the new world! Advent, Earthbound God Asilla Piscu!

(2)- A lone single polished light, become the true high-ruler and illuminate the earth! Shine your light! Synchro Summon! The great soul, Savior Demon Dragon!


	42. Chapter 39: Truth and Consequences

Okay, here we go people, the long awaited last Dark Signer battle! Also, Kurogasa will be dueling Sayer as well. And trust me, it will be epic! Duelist of Dawn has also made this chapter, so credit him for that. Let's go!

Disclaimer: Same thing as usual.

Chapter 39: Truth and Consequences

The seas between New Domino and Satellite were choppy and rough, a storm brewing due to the appearance of the Earthbound Immortals. Most with sense were avoiding the ocean. But despite the oncoming storm, a single boat braved the seas, with one person serving as the passenger and pilot. A tall, slender man in a brown trench coat, a fedora and wearing black sunglasses… Within the Lizard tower, Misty sat alone in the darkness. She could feel the emptiness, the loss of her allies. She knew she stood alone now, last of the Dark Signers.

She flicked open the locket she held in her hand, staring at the picture within. It showed her standing beside a young boy in a Duel Academy uniform, with raven-black hair the same shade as hers.

"Toby…"

She then started to shed some tears...

Three Duel Runners and a car formed a small convoy along the battered and pitted highways of Satellite, heading for the Lizard tower. Astride his Runner, Kurogasa kept his eyes firmly fixed on the road ahead, as he thought about what just happened so far...

_'All of these Dark Signers...'_ he thought. _'Died unfairly but ended up revived for evil that wants to destroy the world…Kalin after Yusei... Devack for who knows what against the twins... and then Mom and Dad... '_ Yusei pulled up, riding right beside him.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine," the Haos duelist murmured. "Yusei… I'm just worried about Akiza, everything's riding on her victory and to seal the last tower…"

"That's why we're making sure it happens," the Satellite stated.

"Just gotta make sure it's done by sunset..." Kurogasa said. _'I hope you'll be alright, Akiza... whoever it was that gave you a hard time when the Arcadia Movement was destroyed; I hope you can overcome it...'_

Akiza fidgeted as she sat in the car beside Mina, the car approaching the location to the Lizard Tower. She then decided to speak up...

"Misty's after me because she thinks I killed her brother," She stated.

"Is it true that her brother's dead?" Mina asked.

"I don't know who her brother is or even what happened to make her think that..." the Plant duelist replied.

"Then she must be mistaken..." Mina thought out loud.

Soon, the two of them pulled up outside an abandoned amusement park, from which rose the monolithic Lizard tower. The two looked up at it as they got out of the car.

"We must find the last Dark Signer quickly," Mina said softly.

"We don't know when the geoglyph might spring up, so we need to be careful," Akiza replied, walking towards the park. Mina hesitated, and then followed her… A short while later, Kurogasa, Yusei, Crow, Leo, Luna and Trudge stopped beside the empty car.

"They must already be inside," Kurogasa mused, dismounting and pulling off his helmet.

"The Duel hasn't started yet," Luna murmured, glancing around.

"We'll split up to search for Akiza," Yusei decided. "Trudge, you go with Leo and Luna. Kurogasa, go with Crow. I'll search on my own." Kurogasa nodded…

Mina wandered through the abandoned buildings of the park, giving a soft sigh.

"It's sad that a place like this is devoid of people," she murmured.

"Everything fades, in time." Startled, the woman looked to see the man in the trench coat.

"Who are you?" Mina asked.

"I'm here by order of Director Goodwin," the man explained. "Apparently the disappearance phenomenon present in the city has spread to Satellite…"

Akiza continued to walk through the park, unaware of the black lizard watching her with crimson eyes… The door of a nearby building swung open and Akiza entered, seeing the walls of mirrors all around.

"A hall of mirrors…" she murmured. Then the door slammed shut behind her and Misty appeared in the mirrors.

"Black Rose," she laughed darkly. "My business with you will finally be finished. Today I'll take my revenge for my brother's death and my own!"

Yusei wandered the park, searching for Akiza and Mina, _'Maybe I can find them at the Tower... wherever that is...'_

"Watch out!" He suddenly noticed the board sign falling towards him and rolled aside, barely avoiding it. The man in the trench coat rushed over to help the Signer up.

"Are you alright?" the man asked.

"I'm fine," Yusei replied, with a glance at the sign. "Who are you?"

"I'm from Sector Security, here under orders from Director Goodwin," the man explained.

"You're not safe here," The Tail Signer warned. "There's duel with a Dark Signer about to happen... if an Earthbound Immortal shows up, your soul could get taken..."

"The director informed me of the details," the man replied. "I'm prepared for such risks. For the sake of New Domino City, Akiza must win her Duel at any cost."

"We'll search for her together," the Signer decided. "Just in case it does starts, my mark can keep you from the worst..."

"Our Duel can begin," Misty told Akiza. "I'll tell you what you did to Toby in grueling detail. If you wish to seal the tower, you must navigate the mirror maze… I'm sure this Duel will be enjoyable…"

"I accept your challenge!" Akiza declared. Their Disks activated and they drew their opening hands.

"DUEL!"

**Akiza:** 4000

**Misty:** 4000

As soon as they began, Misty's Mark glowed brightly, purple flames erupted from the ground, outside where they were and it formed the Lizard Geoglyph. "I'll begin!" the Dark Signer said, drawing a sixth card. "I activate the Field Spell Card, Savage Colosseum!" The mirror maze transformed, becoming a massive arena of mirrored walls.

"Now I place a monster face-down." The reversed monster appeared. "I'll show you your crimes!" The mirrors shone with light…

_Toby held out a wrapped-up gift in his hands, giving it to the younger Misty. _

_"Thank you, Toby," she said, unwrapping the gift and revealing it as a locket. She opened it, and beautiful music played from it. "I'll always treasure it…"_

_"I met someone with psychic powers like mine today," Toby said softly. "Her name was Akiza Izinski!"_

Akiza gasped in shock.

_"Akiza is also skilled in the Arcadia Movement, and Arcadia isn't as bad as everyone thinks," the teenager continued. "I want to use my powers to benefit everyone…"_

"I end my turn with a face-down," Misty finished, her eyes burning with anger.

"Watashi no ta-n!" Akiza declared. "I summon Twilight Rose Knight!" The black-armored girl appeared, drawing her sword (3/1000/1000). "Now I use Twilight Rose Knight's effect to Special Summon Botanical Girl from my hand!" The older teenage girl made of plants appeared, smirking sinisterly (ATK: 1300).

"I Tune Twilight Rose Knight, to Botanical Girl to Synchro Summon…!" Twilight Rose Knight closed her eyes, fading into three Synchro Gates that encircled Botanical Girl, reducing her to three glowing stars that aligned and collided in a flash of power…

_"Shinrin no mottomo kurai karyū o shihai shite akui no toge wa, anata no hageshii zōo wa, kono sekai o tsutsumu koto ga dekimasu! Shinkuro Shoukan! Araware o, Kuin no Toge!" _(1)

The plant queen appeared with a vicious smirk, raising her flytrap hands (ATK: 2200).

"Because Botanical Girl was sent from the field to the Graveyard, I can add a Plant-Type with 1000 or less DEF from my Deck to my hand, like Lord Poison," Akiza said, taking the card shot from her Deck. "Now I place a card face-down!" The reversed card appeared.

"Queen of Thorns, attack that face-down monster!" Queen of Thorns laughed and thorny vines ripped from the ground…

"I activate Offering to the Snake Deity, destroying a Reptile-Type like my face-down Reptilianne Gardna, to destroy two cards you control!" the Dark Signer replied. The green tortoise that was Reptilianne Gardna shattered, along with Queen of Thorns and Akiza's face-down Synchro Back.

"No!" the Signer cried.

"Because Reptilianne Gardna was destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, I can add a Reptilianne monster from my Deck to my hand," Misty said, taking a card from her Deck into her hand.

"I end my turn!" Akiza snarled.

"Watashi no ta-n!" Misty declared, bringing her hand to five cards. "I summon Reptilianne Servant!" She announced, as a large, black with red striped snake with two arms appeared within the mirror. (1/100/100) "Now, I attack directly!"

Reptilianne Servant hissed as it shattered the mirror it was hiding in and blasted through Akiza like a wicked wind.

**Akiza:** 3900

**Misty:** 4000

"Then, you remember I gain 300 life points for battling with a monster!"

**Akiza:** 3900

**Misty:** 4300

"Next, I place one face-down card to end my turn!" She concluded. "Come, follow me." She turned and began to walk away into the mirror maze, her form reflected across every pane of glass as Akiza followed…

Yusei and the man continued to wander the amusement park.

"Tell me, Yusei, do you believe Akiza can defeat a Dark Signer?" the Security agent cut in.

"She'll win," Yusei replied. "I believe in her…" But something seemed wrong about the man's sentence… what was it?

"Hmm… do you have special feelings for her? Why else would risk your life to help her, that's not under orders..."

"We're friends," Yusei stated. Suddenly, he saw the agent stop and turn to his right. "What's the matter?"

"I saw… something move in there," he said softly, gesturing to a house nearby. The two of them entered the house, the agent hanging back.

Yusei wandered within, before entering a dark room and finding the unconscious Mina sprawled out on the floor below through a cage. "Mina!" He rushed to her side, but twin fireballs flew past him, stopping him dead. He glanced to the side, only to have to roll to avoid two more fireballs cast by the agent. "What...?"

"Just like Kurogasa, you're becoming a nuisance to my plans," the agent said, taking a card in hand. It glowed and expanded in a crackling energy blade with a steel hilt, the Psychic Sword Equip Spell. "Akiza doesn't need you... only me!" He took the sword in hand and rushed the Satellite Duelist.

"Are you a Psychic Duelist?" the Signer cried, blocking the man's swing with his Duel Disk. The man laughed, swinging again only to have his blade stopped by the Disk.

Akiza and Misty continued to walk through the mirror maze until stopping at intersections

"Watashi no ta-n!" Akiza declared as she drew he next card, she was about to summon a monster card when...

"Oh, and one other thing," Misty smirked. "While I have my Reptilianne Servant in play, none of us can Normal Summon a monster.

The Rear Claw Signer gasped as she saw that her hand contained nothing but to special summon. "I end my turn with a face-down card!" Akiza finished angrily as her reversed card appeared.

"Watashi no ta-n!" Misty declared. The mirrors flashed with light again.

This time, Toby stood in the Arcadia Movement's headquarters, walking up to Akiza.

_"Akiza, I want to be just like you!" he exclaimed. "What can I do to be like you?" _

_"Sayer will tell you how," she replied compassionately, ever-willing to save another fellow Psychic Duelist. "Just listen to what Sayer says…" With that, she walked away…_

Misty's eyes blazed brighter with hate and inserted a spell card into her disk. "I activate the Continuous Spell Card Solidarity! Since I only have Reptile monsters in my graveyard, all others on the field gain 800 ATK!" She smirked as Reptilianne Servant was surrounded by dark energy. (1/100-900/100) "Servant, attack directly again!" Once again, the Servant turned into a dark wind that blew past Akiza, shaving off more points.

**Akiza:** 3000

**Misty:** 4300

Misty glowed due to the effect of Savage Colosseum, increasing her points yet again...

**Akiza:** 3000

**Misty:** 4600

"I place two cards facedown and end my turn," the Dark Signer concluded.

Yusei rolled under another slash from the agent's Psychic Sword as it thudded into the floor.

"Why don't you want me to help Akiza?" the Signer cried, narrowly avoiding another swing of the sword.

"Akiza is destined for greatness, and she doesn't need you fools to achieve it!" the agent shouted, swinging his blade once again. Only to be blocked by Yusei's disk... "Once I find that fool Kurogasa, he'll die a painful death!"

"If Akiza can't wrap things up by sunset, the world we be destroyed!" the Signer protested. "She has to do this!"

"That is none of your concern," the man said silkily as he used the chance to kick Yusei in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him and then used the hilt of the Psychic Sword to knock him upside the head and into the cage with Mina, the door of which swung shut due to the impact. The man then stepped back and played a card. "Hinotama!" A fireball appeared and struck the lock of the cage door, melting it and sealing the two in. "Akiza can only shine in the world I desire. Farewell!" But before he left, the man hit a switch that caused water started to spill into the cellar. Yusei desperately tried to wake Mina as the water poured down into the space with them…

Meanwhile, Akiza's turn began in the Duel.

"Watashi no ta-n!" Akiza cried.

"I reveal my facedown cards," Misty interrupted as her cards flipped face-up, "First, Light of Intervention prevents you from setting your monsters, and then my Royal Oppression allows us both to pay 800 life points to negate the Special Summoning of a Monster and destroy it!"

"That means..."

"You can't do anything!" the Dark Signer finished for her foe. "All you can do sit there and let me destroy you in few turns, unless however, you decide that you want to do that yourself by paying the life points..."

"Never!" Akiza shouted, inserting the card she just drew. "I use the Equip Spell Mark of the Rose, removing Botanical Girl from play and take control of your Servant!" But after the card appeared behind Reptilianne Servant, it shattered instantly!

Misty snarled, "When Reptilianne Servant's the target of a Spell or Trap effect it's automatically destroyed! Then, I can summon Lord Poison in attack mode!" The twisted bark creature appeared, poised to attack (4/1500/1000). "Attack Misty directly!"

"I play Ultimate Offering," the Dark Signer countered, revealing another facedown card. "I play 500 life points to summon my Reptilianne Naga in defense mode!" A burning red aura surrounded Misty, as she summoned a cute little girl wearing a short brown dress, her body from the hips down that of a brown snake, her skin unnaturally pale and her eyes emerald green. Her silky golden hair was topped by a hideous headdress styled after a demonic cobra. (1/0-800/0)

**Akiza:** 3000

**Misty:** 4100

Soon, Lord Poison ran smack into her but didn't budge an inch.

"Reptilianne Naga cannot be destroyed in battle," Misty informed the Signer coolly. "And any monster that battles her has its attack points reduced to zero at the end of the Battle Phase." Reptilianne Naga gave a demonic smirk as she reared up and parted her lips, baring snake-like fangs which she sank into Lord Poison's arm, petrifying the Plant with venom (4/1500-0/1000). The snake-girl pulled back, making faces of disgust at the presumably awful taste.

"I end my turn with a face-down card!" Akiza finished angrily, glowing with energy from Savage Colosseum. The reversed card appeared.

**Akiza:** 3300

**Misty:** 4100

"Watashi no ta-n!" Misty snarled.

"I activate Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy Royal Oppression," Akiza quickly shouted, shattering one of her opponent's traps. Suddenly, the mirrors flashed once again…

_The Daimon Area was full of screams, people running from the terrifying barbed form of Black Rose Dragon. The dragon's tail lashed, smashing through a building and sending rubble flying. A boulder slammed into Toby as he watched Akiza's dragon in awe, crushing the boy instantly…_

"No… it can't be…" Akiza said, horrified. "There were no casualties that day!"

"The Arcadia Movement covers up all sorts of inconvenient truths to save themselves," Misty replied darkly. "I switch Naga to attack mode and have her attack your Lord Poison!" Naga snarled once more and tackled the petrified monster into rubble.

**Akiza:** 2500

**Misty:** 4100

She then glowed from her field spell...

**Akiza:** 2500

**Misty:** 4400

"I'm sorry…" the Signer groaned weakly. "But despite meeting Toby, I don't know much about him or the incident that claimed his life…" Misty's face contorted in pure rage.

"How dare you continue to deny your involvement!" she snarled as the mirrors shone with blinding light…

Misty drove her car along a cliff top road, tears falling from her eyes as she sobbed. Deep in her sorrow, she didn't notice the upcoming bend until it was far too late… By the time she had been rushed to hospital, she was already dead… dead until she had been chosen by Earthbound Immortal Ccarayhua…

As this took place, Kurogasa and Crow was merely a street away.

"Where is she?" Kurogasa wondered.

"Who knows," Crow muttered. "Look, we'll cover more ground if we go it alone. So at the end of the street, I'll go left and you go right, 'kay?"

"Got it," the Haos duelist nodded. The two came to the end of the street, and separated as Crow had determined, each turning into another aisle of amusement park buildings. But crucially, coming up on Julian's street was the hall of mirrors…

In the cellar of the house, Yusei and Mina struggled with the welded door, crying out for help… Outside, Trudge noticed something on the ground and bent down to pick it up. "Mina's Security I.D.?" He flipped it open and his eyes narrowed in anger at the picture of Jack his co-worker kept on the inside. Closing it with a snarl, he suddenly heard something. "Mina?" He walked into the house…

"I'm… responsible for all this…" the horrified Akiza gasped, staggering back. As she continued to stagger, she didn't notice the shard of glass she was about to fall on…

Then the Security agent caught her a second before she was impaled on the glass.

"Don't worry – I'm on your side," he told her, and she felt she knew his voice. He took off his fedora and sunglasses, revealing himself to be Sayer!

"Sayer?" she gasped in shock, feeling her knees starting to buckle. "You… fell…" she remembered how she had watched him fall from the fiery devastation brought by Asilla Piscu.

"So did I," he replied, gently brushing aside his hair to reveal his scarred and burned face. "Fight back, Akiza."

"I can't fight…" she whispered.

"Your original latent powers were too strong," he told her, "so I sealed them without you knowing. Now I'll unseal them and give you the power to obliterate these 'Dark Signers' and all others who stand against us..." He held her with a lie of his false comfort, and then he whispered: "the entrance to the underworld is on the witch's island."

He stepped back as Akiza gave a cry, the wind erupting into a howling gale around her form, tossing out her skirt and coat. Sayer beheld her true power for a moment, the powers of the beautiful goddess whose obedience he had won.

"Defeat Misty," he called. "Your true powers are far superior to those of a Dark Signer!" He turned and ran as Akiza balefully turned her gaze upon Misty…

The winds picked up and battered at Kurogasa, who threw up his arms to shield his face from the stinging dust the gale carried. Through narrowed eyes he watched Sayer escape the hall of mirrors. "It can't be…" he breathed, but he knew in his heart that it was truly Sayer, "But Akiza said... he survived…?" He felt warmth on his arm and looked down at his Body Mark. "It's happening again..." Then, threw the winds of dark petals kick up, knowing one person affiliated with them, "Akiza..." He then got the message and knew what was going on. "Now I get it, Sayer probably did something with her..."

Yusei and Mina continued to cry out for help, and finally Trudge was there.

"Yusei! Mina!"

"Open the hatch, Trudge!" Yusei shouted urgently. The officer took up a splintered bar of metal, and stuck it into the hatch, trying to level it open…

Akiza gazed at Misty, her eyes deep with her newly-released power.

"So the Black Rose has come, only to vanish from this earth!" Misty laughed.

"You're the only one to vanish today!" Akiza retorted coldly. "Remember, you destroyed Lord Poison this turn meaning I can summon a Plant-Type monster from my graveyard! Appear now, Queen of Thorns!" She announced in malice as her plant Synchro Monster returned to the field. (6/2200/1800)

"I end my turn!" the Dark Signer finished.

"Watashi no ta-n!" Akiza shouted, drawing her next card. "I summon my Copy Plant in attack mode!" She announced as her tangled plant bark appeared. (1/0/0) Copy Plant closed its eyes and let its form break into a single Synchro Gate that rose upwards, Queen of Thorns flying up to let the gates en-circle her and reduce her to three glowing stars that aligned and collided in a blaze of fiery power…

_"Tsumetai honoo ga, sekai no subete wo tsutsumikomu! Shikkoku no hana yo hirake! Shinkuro Shoukan! Araware o, Burakku Roozu Doragon!" _

With an almighty roar, her Signer Dragon exploded into being, fire ripping from its form to obliterate every mirror into broken shards as Akiza let her rage and hate explode into the world. The lethal shards whipped around her as the wind formed into a raging tornado, Black Rose Dragon's petals turning the winds bloody red… (ATK: 2400)

In the house, Trudge, Yusei and Mina continued to struggle to break the hatch…

Kurogasa looked up at Sayer, who was gazing down upon the Duel from his position upon a high plaza.

"This ends here," the Haos duelist said, continuing to walk onwards activating his duel disk.

(A/N: This event happens during the second half of Akiza vs. Misty)

Sayer watched as the glass and the rose petals raged and spun in the tornado, the sight thrilling him. The power Akiza held never ceased to quicken his heartbeat when he witnessed her using it.

"Destroy her, my Black Rose," he said with a smirk.

"She's not yours." Startled, the man turned to see Kurogasa standing a short distance away, his glowing mark visible and his duel disk active.

"YOU!"

"Yeah, me," Kurogasa said. "How did you survive, Sayer? Akiza said that you died when the Arcadia Movement collapsed."

"Truthfully, I don't know," the man replied, turning back to the tornado. "Impressive, isn't it? Just imagine… dear Akiza was capable of such destruction this whole time!"

"It's not for two reasons; one, Akiza doesn't want destruction, and two, you're forcing this from her." The Haos duelist glared. "Let her go, Sayer. Let her be free of you, once and for all."

"Why on earth would I do that?" the Psychic Duelist said, turning back to him. "What can you do to make me?"

"Don't turn your back on me, Sayer," Kurogasa said, raising his duel disk. "I've been through a lot ever since your 'death'… you don't even know my new limitations. Don't _push_ me."

"Threaten me, would you?" Sayer sneered. "Let's dull that sharp tongue!" He drew three cards and played them in quick succession. "Hinotama!" Three fireballs formed and at his direction shot at Kurogasa.

The Haos duelist quickly drew a card and inserted into his disk, "I activate Hallowed Life Barrier!"

Sayer gasped as a glass, blue barrier surrounded Kurogasa and took the impact of the Hinotama flames. "You're a... Psychic Duelist now?"

"It's actually thanks to being connected with Akiza's mark," the Haos duelist corrected, holding up his Body Mark of the Crimson Dragon. "The same thing you wanted from Luna presumably... I can link with one of the Signers, so while you're controlling her, I have her real support right here!"

"Psychic Sword!" With that, Sayer played the card and drew the energy blade from the air, rushing at Kurogasa in anger. As the crackling azure energy sword swung at him, Kurogasa suddenly held up a staff and brought it up and the weapons met in a crash of sparks, before the two leapt apart, surging together to have their weapons collide once more.

"How did you get that weapon?" the Psychic duelist snarled as he continued to clash with his enemy.

"While I used Hallowed Life Barrier, I summoned Haos Siege so I could borrow his weapons!" the Haos duelist replied as they continued to duel with their weapons, sending vibrant sprays of sparks across their forms as they cut and thrust at each other. Kurogasa took a strike on his glowing staff before pressing his free hand to the staff's edge and sliding it across, drawing out the light to collect energy. Sayer's eyes widened and he was forced to duck to avoid being hurt.

"You can't beat me, Sayer," Kurogasa said. "You're just too stubborn to accept it!"

"You're just blind to my superiority!"

"You're the blind one!" The Haos duelist snarled, extending his staff, sending a crescent wave of light energy shooting across the plaza into Sayer, crushing the man back into the railing at the edge of the stone square. "You're blind to the consequences of what you're doing! For so long Akiza's been your slave and now she finally has a chance to be free and find her light… I won't let you rob her of that chance!"

"I never robbed her of anything!" the Psychic Duelist snarled, advancing balefully "It was her parents who denied her any love or comfort… I took her in, gave her shelter and warmth and all my love! I did more for her than her own parents!"

"You only loved her for her powers, not for the girl _cursed_ with those powers!" With that, the angry Kurogasa leapt, crashing his blades down onto Sayer's hastily-raised Psychic Sword with such force that both weapons shattered like glass. Sayer couldn't even react in shock before Kurogasa's feet thudded down into his chest in a kick that sent him staggering back to the railings as the Body Signer landed cat-like.

"I will save her from you," Kurogasa said softly, staring at Sayer with conviction in his gaze. "I won't let you control her life any longer, Sayer. You've hurt so many people… created so much heartbreak… I have no choice but to end it here and now. And there's only one way I know to do it…" He activated his Disk.

"So that's how it is," Sayer sneered, activating the stolen Security Disk on his arm as they both drew their opening hands.

"DUEL!"

**Kurogasa:** 4000

**Sayer:** 4000

"I'll begin this duel," Sayer announced, drawing his sixth card. "I set one monster in defense mode along with two cards facedown to end my turn." He stated, planting his two reversed cards on the field.

"Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa shouted, drawing his sixth card. He then opened his Field slot and inserted a spell inside, "First, I activate the Field Spell called Haos Reactor!" A light glowed from the ground and balls of transparent light of different colors appeared. "Whenever a LIGHT Monster is summoned, that Monster gains 500 attack points. Now I'll summon my Haos Manion in attack mode!" He announced, bringing out his white Sphinx of light who, absorbed energy from the reactor. (4/1350-1850/1000) "Attack his facedown monster!"

The Sphinx ran across the field and smashed the facedown card that revealed to be a cybernetic panda before it shattered. (4/1700/1400)

"I activate the effect of Pandaborg, letting me pay 800 Life Points to Special Summon a Level Four Psychic-Type from my Deck, and I also activate Psi-Curse, destroying your Haos Manion and dealing you damage equal to my destroyed Pandaborg's Level times 300!" Sayer responded as he glowed with red aura.

**Kurogasa:** 4000

**Sayer:** 3200

An arc of lightning tore from the Psi-Curse card, surrounding the Sphinx but then it roared and swiped it claws to knock it away. "What?"

"Haos Manion's effect negates and destroys Spell or Trap effect targeting it," the Haos Duelist smirked. "My monster's here to stay!"

"I still have my Special Summon, and pick out my Psychic Snail!" Sayer retorted, bringing out his snail-like Psychic from his deck. (4/1900/1200)

"Then, I'll end with one card facedown." Kurogasa concluded.

"My move," Sayer announced, drawing his next card. "I call Destructotron to the field!" There was a flash of energy and a terrifying monster stalked from it, an android with four spider-like legs, its arms ending in barbed talons. The TV screen composing its head displayed the frightening image of a bald man's face, cackling insanely. (4/1600/400)

"Are all your monsters _this_ ugly?" the Haos duelist muttered.

"That's no way to talk your superiors," the Psychic duelist smirked. "With this new monster, I pay 1000 life points to destroy your facedown card!"

**Kurogasa:** 4000

**Sayer:** 2200

Another red aura surrounded him as a blast of energy shot from Destructotron's screen, obliterating the face-down card Kurogasa had.

"Now it's time to feel the true power of a Psychic Duelist," Sayer announced. "Psychic Snail, obliterate his Manion!" the snail emitted electricity which shot straight at the sphinx, shattering it to pixels while Kurogasa felt a small jolt of pain.

**Kurogasa:** 3950

**Sayer:** 2200

"Now my Destructotron, attack Kurogasa directly!" Another blast of energy shot from Destructotron's screen blasting the Signer up against the wall.

**Kurogasa:** 2350

**Sayer:** 2200

"Next, I use the quick-play Spell Sebek's Blessing to gain the life points you lost from a direct attack," Sayer continued, as a green aura surrounded him and made him stronger.

**Kurogasa:** 2350

**Sayer:** 3800

Kurogasa pushed himself off the wall returned to his spot on the field. "You look tired," Sayer taunted. "How about a break after I set this card facedown?" A facedown card appeared by his other one. "Feel better?"

"After I do this, Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa announced, drawing his next card. "I play Pot of Greed to draw two cards!" After drawing his cards, he nodded and played another monster. "Haos El Condor, you're on!" the white skinny shaman creature with the large Aztec mask appeared, powered by the Reactor. (3/1300-1800/1100) He then inserted another spell, "Next, Rapid Haos to summon Haos Tuskor!" In a flash of light, a white and yellow elephant that has small teeth inside of its trunk appeared and roared. (5/2000-2500/2000)

"So, you're planning on making your Signer Dragon?" the Psychic wondered.

"Nope," the Haos duelist replied. "El Condor, attack Destructotron!" The shaman monster chanted ominous words and emitted white beams from its eyes, destroying the mechanical Psychic in a cloud of smoke and sent Sayer skidding back.

**Kurogasa:** 2350

**Sayer:** 3600

After seeing the damage done to the opponent, Kurogasa looked to his mark, "Just hang on, Akiza..." He then turned back his attention to his opponent. "Next, Tuskor attacks your snail!" the large elephant trumpeted before charging across the field and crushing the Psychic Snail with its food before smacking Sayer into the wall, with the trunk.

**Kurogasa:** 2350

**Sayer:** 3000

"And while you're stuck in the wall, I'll tune Level 5 Haos Tuskor with Level 3 El Condor!" He announced as the tuner monster transformed into three Synchro Gates that surrounded Tuskor, transforming it into 5 bright stars as Kurogasa chanted...

_"Piasu no ten no hikari, yami wotōshite sasuto sono subete no eikō no hikari o kagayaka sete! Shinkuro Shoukan! Araware o, Haos Wolfurio!"_ (2)

The light erupted from the gates and brought out a metallic, white armored Greek warrior of leg, arm, helmet, and chest armor carrying a double ended lance and a long shield. He unleashed a pillar of light, as the Haos Reactor boosted his strength. (8/2800-3300/2600)

"It's your turn now!" Kurogasa concluded, "I hope you know realize what happens when the tables have turned when you harmed people!"

"I'll never know that feeling..." Sayer smirked as he activated his two facedown card, "I activate my traps, Life Absorbing Machine and Metaphysical Regeneration! The latter will restore my life points equal to the number of Psychic Monsters destroyed times 1000! So thank you for destroying my two monsters and giving me 2000 life points!" He laughed as a green aura surrounded him, restoring his points and his energy as he stepped out of the wall.

**Kurogasa:** 2350

**Sayer:** 5000

"Damn..." the Haos duelist cursed.

"And then, it's my turn," Sayer continued as he drew his next card. "Now, Life Absorbing Machine affords me with life points equal to half of what I paid last turn! I paid 1000 life points with Destructotron's effect, meaning I gain 500 back!" Another faint green aura surrounded him and restored more of his energy.

**Kurogasa:** 2350

**Sayer:** 5500

"No way!" Kurogasa gasped. _'Then again, I can see why his deck revolves around this strategy now... because he has the ability to make his card's effects become real, not only he can deal damage but he can heal others... only problem is that he'll only use the good effects for himself...'_

"No matter how much you harm me, I'll always come back..." the Psychic duelist smirked. "Next, I play Spellbook Inside the Pot! Consider yourself lucky that I'm letting you draw three cards along with me," He sneered as he and his foe drew their three cards. He then took a card out of his new hand and inserted them, "Now, I use Junk Dealer to revive my monsters with half their strength!" He announced as two pillars of psychic energy revived Psychic Snail. (4/1900-950/1200), (4/1600-800/400)

_'A Synchro Summon...'_ the Haos duelist thought.

"Then, I summon Mind Master in attack mode!" In a flash of power, a bizarre Psychic like a metal sphere capped by a Perspex dome containing a brain appeared, black cables extending from the sides ending in white gloves, being powered up by Haos Reactor. (1/100-600/200) Sayer smirked seeing that, _'I'll file that for later...'_ "I now tune Level 4 Psychic Snail and Level 4 Destructotron with my Level 1 Mind Master!"

Mind Master faded into a glowing ring that encircled Psychic Snail and Destructotron, reducing them to eight glowing stars. The stars collided, exploding with power...

_"Watashi no kyūmin fukushū wa saikō o shihai suru nodesu! Shinkuro Shoukan! Mondai-jō no kokoro, Overmind Archfiend!"_ (3)

Through the explosive power, Thought Ruler Archfiend appeared but now enhance in mechanical armor that crackled with powerful energy as it stared down at Wolfurio and Kurogasa. (9/3300/3000)

Trying to hide the fear, Kurogasa shouted, "All nice, but if you're planning to suicide your monster by all means!"

"Now, I'm not as stupid as you..." Sayer sneered, earning a glare from his opponent and inserted another card. "I activate the Continuous Spell Card, Soul Absorption. And then I'll use the effect of Overmind Archfiend to remove Psychic Snail from the graveyard!" He continued as he took the mentioned monster from his graveyard and pocketed it. "Next, Spell Absorption affords me 500 life points whenever a card is removed from the game!" Another green aura surrounded the Psychic, boosting his health and score.

**Kurogasa:** 2350

**Sayer:** 6000

_'At this rate, I won't be able to end this soon...'_ Kurogasa thought.

"And finally, I activate Solidarity!" Sayer continued, playing another continuous spell card. "Since I have Psychics in my graveyard, all Psychic Types on the field will gain 800 ATK! Enough to break the tie..." A dark energy enveloped the Archfiend. (9/3300-4100/3000) "Overmind Archfiend, destroy his pathetic monster!" the Psychic monster's claws glowed bright white and then pierced through Wolfurio, shattering him into pixels and then slammed Kurogasa against the floor.

**Kurogasa:** 1550

**Sayer:** 6000

The Psychic duelist laughed at his opponent, struggling to get up but unable to move the claws, "No one who copies the power of others can stand up to my own! It would make sense if I end your miserable life now... Akiza won't miss you...

Kurogasa suddenly went into a burst of anger as he shouted, "Ore… no ta-n!", and drew his next card while Overmind Archfiend was gripping him! "Come out, Haos Tentaclar!" Once the Body Signer slapped the card on his disk, another flash of light erupted around him and pushed away the Psychic monster. The light then created the giant eyeball, glaring at the opposition. (3/1350-1850/1550)

"So, you still want to fight the inevitable..."

"As long as Akiza's still in your control, I'll continue to fight!" the Signer shouted. "I actually care for her as a person, while you only see her as a weapon!"

"Pathetic!" Sayer shouted, drawing another card. "I use Overmind Archfiend to remove Destructotron from the game!" He announced, taking the mentioned card and pocketed his monster. Soul Absorption then increased his points.

**Kurogasa:** 1550

**Sayer:** 6500

"Archfiend, attack his monster!" Sayer announced as the Archfiend went to grip its prey.

"Activate Flare Blind!" Kurogasa shouted. The eyeball shined its light and blinded Sayer's monster, making it back off. "Whenever it's targeted for an attack, once per turn Haos Tentaclar can negate an enemy monster's attack! I'm here to stay!"

"Not for long... I place one card facedown." Sayer concluded.

"Ore no ta-n!" the Haos duelist announced, drawing his next card. _'Alright, I finally got the means to destroy his monster! Mirror Force should be able to destroy his army! Then, I'll just have to summon as many monsters as I can to win this!'_ He then inserted two cards inside of his disk. "I set three cards facedown and to end my turn."

"Trying to save yourself, are we?" Sayer taunted as he drew his next card, "Well, it won't work after this next move... I remove Mind Master from the game to gain 500 points!" He announced, removing his tuner monster and gaining more life points.

**Kurogasa:** 1550

**Sayer:** 7000

"Next, I play my trap card Altar for Tribute!" He continued, revealing his facedown trap card. "This allows me to send Overmind Archfiend to the graveyard and gain life points equal to its ATK!"

Kurogasa gasped as his opponent willingly sacrificed his monster in order gain life points, way over the limit and leaving a dark smoke...

**Kurogasa:** 1550

**Sayer:** 10300

"What the... How can you be gluttonous over life points?" the Signer shouted in anger. "Removing and sending your own monsters off to the graveyard... do you have any shred of respect of anyone but yourself?"

"Sadly no, but once this world is destroyed and Akiza and I are the last living beings on the planet, we'll rebuild it with our Psychic-Powered children..." Sayer rejoiced. "And if there were any survivors, we'll destroy them all!"

"You sick freak!" Kurogasa snapped. "Whatever's going on that messed-up head of yours, I will stop it! No one in this world deserves this torment!"

"And that's where your wrong, my delusional and hateful foe! Everything could've been perfect if not for your interference with Akiza!" the Psychic duelist shouted back. "And now I'll make sure when I kill you, there won't be anything left to find, not even your ashes!"

"How are you going to do that without a monster?" the Signer stated. "You just sent off your powerful monster just for your high score!"

"Because Overmind Archfiend was sent to the graveyard, I can Special Summon every Psychic Monster I removed from the game by its effect!" Sayer laughed, as he took out his pocketed monster cards and saw Kurogasa speechless. "Finally, your mouth rests! Come forth my Psychic Army!"

Jumping out of the smoke, Psychic Snail, Destructotron, and Mind Master stood side by side, powering up their strength as they cackled. (4/1900-2700/1200), (4/1600-2400/700), (1/100-600-1400/400)

"While I'm at it, I'll pay 1000 life points to destroy one of your facedown cards!" He continued as a red aura surrounded him again...

**Kurogasa:** 1550

**Sayer:** 9300

Then, Destructotron fired a massive beam from the screen that obliterated Kurogasa's facedown Mirror Force...

"Damn..." the Signer whispered.

"A sad attempt to survive," Sayer smirked as he summoned another monster card, "Come forth, Krebons!" In another flash of psychic energy, the cybernetic harlequin appeared and chuckled maniacally. (4/1200-2000/400) "It's time to die! Krebons and Destructotron, destroy that Tentaclar!" Krebons made the first move, summoning digital blocks and fired them at the eyeball. Tentaclar unleashed its Flare Blind to blind the enemy and escape. But, it wasn't meant to last as Destructotron was able to aim at the precise point that Tentaclar was going to appear and fired another blast to completely destroy it.

Kurogasa then sprung his trap card, "I activate Miracle's Wake!" He shouted as Tentaclar reappeared in another blinding light. (4/1350-1850/1500) "Looks like I'm still in the clear!"

"Let's see if you lose your voice again after I do this, I tune my Level 1 Mind Master with Level 4 Destructotron!" Mind Master once again transformed into a single Synchro gate and surrounded Destructotron reduced it to 4 stars, letting the power coalesce...

_"Kokoro no shinen ni moeagaru waga nikushime no honoo yo, kuroki dotou tonarite kono sekai wo juurinseyo! Shinkuro Shoukan! Araware o, Majikaru Andoroido!"_ (4)

Soon a beautiful woman with long, vibrant brown hair, clothed in a mixture of robes and armor, both adorned with golden circuitry patterns. She wielded a golden sword-staff and a shield shaped like a spiral. (5/2400-3200-3700/1700)

"I really must thank you for having your Haos Reactor in play," Sayer continued to smirk. "Thanks to it, my LIGHT Attribute Psychics will continue to amass their power! Now I end my turn with a facedown card and let Magical Android increase my points by 600 for every Psychic I control!" A shower of golden motes fell on him.

**Kurogasa:** 1550

**Sayer:** 11100

"Any last words before I finish you off next turn?"

"Yeah, I got some question since I'm about to 'die'," Kurogasa stated, drawing his next card without looking at it. "Before I and the other Signers came to the Satellite to defeat the Dark Signers, I talked with Akiza about why Misty wanted her dead. She said that Misty thinks her brother, Toby Tredwell, was killed while Akiza was dueling as the Black Rose Witch in the Daimon Area."

Sayer narrowed his eyes at the comment while his foe continued to speak...

"Akiza doesn't remember it, yet the record shows that Toby Tredwell was dead... But then I saw that he _too_ was a Psychic Duelist, so I figured he'd end up with you to feel welcome."

"What are you saying?" the Psychic duelist shouted. "I've helped people... Akiza… she was suffering… her heart was broken, and she was alone. I took her in, like so many others… people hated and cursed because of their powers." Kurogasa considered this before voicing with a rebuttal...

"After seeing a list of Psychic Duelists who weren't up to your standards, I saw Toby's name listed... killed during a trial experiment..." Kurogasa narrowed his eyes and his voice was as cold as ice as he said, "You had him killed, didn't you? And there were many others on that list... you say you wanted to help the Psychics, but you're nothing more than a murderer! You're the reason Misty became a Dark Signer!"

After hearing all that, Sayer just laughed out loud, "Is that all you wanted to know? Fine, yes... it was me who killed Misty's brother! So what? I won't accept anyone who is unable to handle to cold methods of my ways! Only the strong survive and once I'm done with you, I'll make sure of that!"

Kurogasa then looked at the card he drew, and then inserted it in, "I activate Card of Sanctity, so that I hold six cards!" He announced, drawing his six cards while Sayer also drew until held the same number. "Now, then I revive Haos El Condor with the Monster Reborn Spell Card!" He announced as the shaman Haos monster returned with anger in its eyes. (3/1300-1800/1100) "Then, I summon my Haos Centipoid!" He continued, bring out his white and golden centipede. (2/800-1300/1000) "I tune Level 3 Tentaclar and Level 2 Centipoid with Level 3 El Condor!"

El Condor turned into three green rings while encircling Tentaclar and Centipoid, turning them into 5 stars. The stars lined up in the tunnel of rings.

_"Shinzou no tamashii ga, piasu no hikari o kensaku to yami o uchikudaku! Shinkuro Shokan! Araware o, Haos Omega Leonidas!"_

In a beam of light, Kurogasa's white and yellow colored ace dragon appeared. The dragon roared as the light from the Haos Reactor shined brightly making it look majestic. (8/3000-3500/2500)

"So, your dragon finally appears!" Sayer shouted, "I now activate my facedown card, Mind Over Matter! I release Krebons to negate Leonidas's summoning and destroy it!" Krebons erupted into golden electricity and surrounded the dragon, making it cry out...

"I activate my own Counter Trap, Destruction Jammer!" Kurogasa countered, sending one card from his hand into the graveyard. "By sending a card to the graveyard, I can negate the effect of a card that destroys monster and destroy it!" Soon, the electricity around Leonidas fizzled out, much to Sayer's surprise. "Next, I use Leonidas special ability to select my Haos Wolfurio for him to gain half of its ATK!"

A faint spirit of Wolfurio appeared and fused with the dragon. (8/3500-4900/2500)

"Even with your attack, you won't make the slightest difference in my score," Sayer stated.

"That's the smartest thing you ever said," the Haos duelist agreed as he inserted a facedown card. "And researching how Psychic monsters work, I was smart enough to place this trap in my side deck. Now to activate it..."

"You can't, you just set it facedown!"

"Which is why I had this next card in my Side deck as well," Kurogasa smirked as he inserted the next card. "Bait Doll forces the activation of a trap card, and right now its requirements are all in place!"

Soon, his facedown card immediately flipped over, to the shock of Sayer. "No... not that!"

"Yup, it's Life Equalizer!" the Haos duelist shouted. "And since your life-points exceeds mine by at least 8000, both scores are changed to 3000!"

"NOOOOO!" Sayer shouted as gigantic masses of energy burst out of the Psychic's body, transferring itself into Kurogasa's. Restoring the latter's health and strength while weakening the former severely.

**Kurogasa:** 3000

**Sayer:** 3000

"Now Leonidas, attack Psychic Snail! Omega Eraser!"

Leonidas flew up and fired a huge beam from its mouth at the Psychic destroying it into pixels and then blasted Sayer through the wall of the plaza as he scream out in agony as his life points depleted.

**Kurogasa:** 3000

**Sayer:** 0

Kurogasa then turned off his duel disk and turned around. "Now to help Akiza..." He said to himself as he left the plaza, heading towards the site of Akiza's duel.

(Back to Misty and Akiza) (A/N: During the beginning of Kurogasa vs. Sayer)

Akiza had just summoned her Black Rose Dragon (7/2400/1800) against Misty's Reptilianne Naga powered by Solidarity (1/0-800/0).

**Akiza:** 2500

**Misty:** 4400

"Now, I activate the Equip Spell Card Grief Tablet," Akiza shouted, inserting her spell card. Once activate, Naga was now encased in a stone tablet. "How do you like having your monsters petrified? With this card, your monster's effects are negated and it can't move. But now, I'll allow my Black Rose Dragon attack it with Black Rose Flare!"

Black Rose Dragon roared, unleashing a blaze of flame from its maw that consumed Reptilianne Naga's tablet, before sweeping into Misty.

**Akiza:** 2500

**Misty:** 2800

The Dark Signer snarled in pain, feeling the heat of the flames as Akiza glowed from Savage Colosseum.

**Akiza:** 2800

**Misty:** 2800

"And then, when Grief Tablet is destroyed you lose another 500 points!" Akiza continued as a red aura burned Misty once more...

**Akiza:** 2800

**Misty:** 2300

"These are the same powers that killed my brother…" she snarled. "I'll make you pay for what you did to him!" Purple flames erupted around them, forming the Lizard geoglyph.

"I end my turn with a facedown card!" the Front Claw Signer finished.

Meanwhile, Trudge continued to struggle to free the trapped Yusei and Mina as the rising waters reached their necks. "Jack!" Mina screamed, and something ignited in Trudge's eyes at the name, a feral anger that empowered him just enough to send the door of the cage flying open. Reaching out, he helped both Yusei and Mina to climb out of the death-trap.

As they left the house, they beheld the fiery Lizard geoglyph.

"The Duel must have started," Yusei mused. "I need to find Akiza…"

"Yusei…" Mina murmured. "Misty thinks that Akiza killed her brother."

"Is that true?"

"I don't know," the woman replied, shaking her head. "Akiza can't remember…"

Back to the duel...

"Watashi no ta-n!" Misty snarled, drawing her next card, her hand at 2. "I summon Reptilianne Scylla!" With a devilish hiss, another reptilian monstrosity rose before her, this one a centaur-like beast consisting of a brown-scaled woman in a black, frilly vest with fiery red hair connected at the hips to a pale white reptilian hound with three gaping, fanged maws across its body. (4/1800-2600/1200) "Attack Black Rose Dragon!" The demonic reptile roared and charged at the Dragon...

"I activate Rose Blizzard," Akiza countered as her trap card activated and blew a flurry of rose petals at the monster, forcing it back to Misty and into the ground. "This negates your attack and switches your monster to defense mode!"

"I end my turn with a facedown card," Misty concluded. "So you survive another turn..."

Yusei, Mina and Trudge ran up to the outside of the mirrored dome within which Akiza and Misty were dueling, stopping beside Leo and Luna as Crow also ran up.

"It's Akiza… she's acting like the Black Rose again," Luna murmured.

"What happened to her?" Yusei wondered, before something caught his attention. He looked up to a plaza nearby, seeing the form of some Psychic Monsters. "No way…" His gaze fixed on Sayer, before angling to Kurogasa. It became obvious to him that they were dueling. "It's him… Kurogasa's dueling Sayer..."

"But didn't he die during the Arcadia Movement's collapse?" Mina asked, surprised at the fact.

"Unless he was absorbed by an Earthbound Immortal that's been defeated..." Luna realized.

"That would make sense..." Yusei nodded as he hit a button on his duel disk. "Let's listen in... I have custom part on this duel disk that'll allow us to hear in on certain activate duel disks around us... I'll lock on to Kurogasa's..."

_"Any last words before I finish you off next turn?" The voice of Sayer announced._

_"Yeah, I got some question since I'm about to 'die'," Kurogasa's voice replied… "Before I and the other Signers came to the Satellite to defeat the Dark Signers, I talked with Akiza about why Misty wanted her dead. She said that Misty thinks her brother, Toby Tredwell, was killed while Akiza was dueling as the Black Rose Witch in the Daimon Area."_

Everyone gasped as they continued to listen...

_"Akiza doesn't remember it, yet the record shows that Toby Tredwell was dead... But then I saw that he too was a Psychic Duelist, so I figured he'd end up with you to feel welcome."_

_"What are you saying?" the Psychic duelist shouted. "I've helped people... Akiza… she was suffering… her heart was broken, and she was alone. I took her in, like so many others… people hated and cursed because of their powers."_

Back to the duel...

"Watashi no ta-n!" Akiza announced, drawing her next card, "I place one card facedown and then activate Black Rose Dragon's ability!" She then removed Copy Plant from her graveyard. "I remove a Plant Type monster from my graveyard and then switch your monster's mode to attack and reduce its power to 0!" She announced as Black Rose Dragon consumed the spirit of Copy Plant and then wrapped its thorny vines around Scylla, making it vulnerable. (4/2600-0/1200) "Now attack with Black Rose Flare!" Once more, the dragon unleashed its flames upon Misty's monster and then burned it to ashes.

"I activate Half Shield to halve the damage I took," Misty countered, feeling part of the flames attack her and Savage Coliseum's effect take place...

**Akiza:** 3100

**Misty:** 1100

"I end my turn with a facedown card." Akiza concluded.

"Watashi no ta-n!" Misty declared. "I activate Akashic Record, so I draw two cards, and if either have been used this Duel, both are removed from play!" She drew twice and smiled, showing Akiza Earthbound Immortal Ccarayhua and Reptilianne Spawn. I activate the Spell Card, Reptilianne Spawn! By removing a Reptilianne monster in my Graveyard from play," she pocketed Reptilianne Scylla, "I Special Summon two Reptilianne Tokens!" Two dark emerald green lizards with staring amber eyes appeared before her (1/0/0) x2.

"But now I Release both Tokens..." Both lizards faded into rainbow light that rose up and transformed into an Earthbound Immortal heart. The heart soaked in the black fog from around them and began to beat, exploding into a pillar of purple fire and light…

_"Warera ga inochi yomigaeraseshi kami yo! Saa, kono tamashii sasageru! Kourinseyo! Jibakushin Kokaraia!"_ (5)

With a mighty roar, Ccarayhua, the Lizard Immortal rose up over the field with its green markings glowing (10/2800-3600/1800).

"Ccarayhua…" Misty began, but her voice died away as voices spoke from her and Akiza's Duel Disks.

_"After seeing a list of Psychic Duelists who weren't up to your standards, I saw Toby's name listed... killed during a trial experiment..." Kurogasa's voice was heard, "You had him killed, didn't you? And there were many others on that list... you say you wanted to help the Psychics, but you're nothing more than a murderer! You're the reason Misty became a Dark Signer!"_

Misty gasped; dumbstruck as Kurogasa and Sayer spoke... she then looked up at the plaza where the other duel was taking place until finally the damning words were spoken as Sayer laughed.

_"Is that all you wanted to know? Fine, yes... it was me who killed Misty's brother! So what? I won't accept anyone who is unable to handle to cold methods of my ways! Only the strong survive and once I'm done with you, I'll make sure of that!"_

She was stunned, shattered by the words. But her shock quickly turned into a burning, unrelenting anger, so much that she focused all of her attention at the duel. Misty didn't want anyone else involved now that she heard Sayer speak the truth. All she needed to do... was to wait until Kurogasa was out of the way...

_"Now Leonidas, attack Psychic Snail! Omega Eraser!" _

She saw the explosion erupt from the plaza, and narrowed her eyes as Sayer flew backwards. Now was her chance...

"Earthbound Immortal Ccarayhua, devour him!" Her anger spilled into her voice and the Immortal obeyed, snatching him up out of the sky with its lizard tongue before devouring him. As she heard the crunch of bones and other horrific sounds, Misty felt a sick satisfaction for a moment. Yusei and the others felt sick just hearing the bones crunch and hearing those horrific sounds as well.

"You didn't kill my brother," she murmured to Akiza, who seemed stunned. "I understand that now… I have no more reason to fight you. I…" Then she cried out in pain as the dark entity from both Greiger and Carly's Duels appeared.

**"I refuse to allow this,"** it hissed.

"Your vengeance is over," Kurogasa said, sprinting up with Yusei and the others beside him who found him. "You mustn't lose to the Earthbound Immortal!" He glanced at Akiza, who still seemed spellbound. "Akiza…" Her eyes widened, and she looked at him, eyes focusing again.

"Kurogasa…" she groaned. "What… happened…?" Then it flooded back. "Sayer!"

"He's gone," Kurogasa said grimly. "Akiza, he's dead for good…" She stared at him in shock.

"He can't be…"

"We just watched Ccarayhua devour him whole," the Haos Duelist murmured. "This time… there's no coming back."

The Rear Claw Signer continued to stare at him in shock for a moment, before a gasp of pain from Misty drew her attention, the Dark Signer's eyes glowing.

"I… can't stop this Duel…" the Lizard Dark Signer groaned, before straightening, her eyes glowing with baleful fire. **"I will destroy you, Signer!"**

"You're the only one who can save her, Akiza," Yusei told his friend, who nodded.

"I understand," she replied.

**"Earthbound Immortal Ccarayhua, attack her directly and end this!"** Misty commanded. Ccarayhua lashed out with a mighty blow…

"I activate my Ground Capture!" Akiza retorted. "This halves the Battle Damage!" The stone hand rose up, blocking the attack and shattering to pelt her with fragments while Savage Colosseum healed Misty.

**Akiza:** 1700

**Misty:** 1400

"And because I took at least 1000 points of damage, Ground Capture lets me draw a card!" She drew once.

**"I end my turn!"** Misty snarled. **"Anything you will do is useless!"**

_'Sayer deceived us both…'_ Akiza thought sadly as her turn began. _'It's because of him you're in this situation, Misty… you don't deserve this pain…'_ At that moment, her resolve hardened; a resolve to help Misty, to bring the Dark Signer out of the shadows… to save her… "Watashi no ta-n!" She then drew her next card. "I activate Burning Land! This destroys all field spell cards in play, so Savage Colosseum's gone and your Earthbound Immortal's effect is negated!" A wildfire erupted around the field, burning down the colosseum and making it collapse. "Now, I can use the effect my Book of Moon spell to force your monster to be Set!" Soon, the Earthbound Immortal roared in agony, only to be replaced by a facedown card.

"All she got to do is use the special ability of her monster," Kurogasa noted.

"Now I activate the special ability of Black Rose Dragon, removing Lord Poison in my Graveyard from play to change your face-down Earthbound Immortal to attack position and reduce its points to zero! Black Rose Dragon, Rose Restriction!" Lord Poison appeared in illusory form and rose up to Black Rose Dragon's jaws, Akiza's dragon devouring it, before sending its vine-tails shooting across the field as Ccarayhua was revealed again (10/2800-3600/1800), the vines wrapping round it tightly (10/3600-0/1800).

**"If you win this Duel, I shall die for good,"** Misty said.

"The one I want to defeat is the entity controlling Misty!" Akiza replied firmly.

"Akiza… protect this world as a Signer…" the true Misty whispered from the air. Akiza nodded.

"Black Rose Dragon, attack with Black Rose Flare!"

Black Rose Dragon breathed purple flames and rose petals consuming the Lizard Immortal in fire as Ccarayhua shattered into shadows and Misty's life points depleted.

**Akiza:** 1700

**Misty:** 0

"Now… Akiza, protect this world… as a Signer… please, remember us…" she gasped, before she became nothing more than dust in the wind. As she vanished and Akiza appeared once more, a locket fell to the ground, the Front Claw Signer picking it up and opening it to see the picture of Misty and Toby inside. A tear fell from her eye onto the locket.

"Sayer deceived and hurt so many people," Kurogasa murmured. "And now he's finally paid for his crimes." But then he realized something. "What about sunset?" He turned, but the sun had already sunk below the horizon… "Oh no."

"Half the souls of New Domino City should return soon," Mina mused, and in New Domino, people suddenly began to appear in the streets.

Suddenly, an earthquake rocked the ground and the skies lit with purple light.

"That light's coming from New Domino!" Yusei realized. Then fire lit in the skies, forming into another geoglyph... one of a Condor!

There you go people, a long chapter done and the last of the Dark Signers are gone, well, not really, but you know what I mean. We are almost there people! Just one more chapter and this story is done! Again, thank Duelist of Dawn for this chapter!

(1)- Thorns of malice that rule the darkest reaches of the forest, let your bitter hatred envelop this world! Synchro Summon! Appear, Queen of Thorns!

(2)- Piercing light of the heavens, stab through the darkness and let the light shine in all its glory! Synchro Summon! Appear now, Haos Wolfurio!

(3)- My dormant vengeance will reign supreme! Synchro Summon! Mind over Matter, Overmind Archfiend!

(4)- My flames of hatred, inflamed within the abyss of my heart, become the black raging waves that will overrun this world. Synchro Summon! Appear now, Magical Android!

(5)- O God which resuscitated my life, now I offer you my soul! Advent, Earthbound Immortal Ccarayhua!


	43. Chapter 40: The Final Dark Signer?

This is it people! The last chapter of my 5D's story! It's been on heck of a ride you guys! But fear not, there _will_ be a sequel to this story! Duelist of Dawn and I will be working on that joint project so look forward to it in the future. Now on with the final chapter of Stardust Accelerator: Rise of the Earthbounds!

Disclaimer: FOR THE LAST TIME, I DON'T OWN 5D's! STOP BOTHERING ME ABOUT THAT!

Chapter 40: The Final Dark Signer?

Yusei, Jack, Akiza, Leo, Luna, Crow, Trudge, Mina and Kurogasa all stared up at the Condor geoglyph burning upon the heavens in horror.

"This… can't be!" Kurogasa cried out. "How can there be another Dark Signer?"

"I don't know, but I get the feeling we'll find out." Yusei said grimly.

"I don't understand." Akiza said. "If all the Dark Signers are defeated, how can another mark be appearing now?"

"That's the question." Crow said. "And Yusei's right… I bet we'll be the ones to find out."

"Is it because I didn't seal the last tower in time?" Akiza asked.

"It can't be that… can it?" Kurogasa murmured.

"Roman said if all four towers weren't sealed in time, the King of the Underworld would rise." Yusei recalled. Then an earthquake rocked the Satellite, as light exploded into the heavens from somewhere around two miles away.

"That's the Old Enerdy Reactor!" Mina exclaimed.

"The Doors of the Underworld must be fully open…" Yusei realized…

The crater containing the old reactor was lit with the rainbow Enerdy light, as lightning bolts crashed down around it. Then a black sludge poured from the hole, two crimson eyes opening in it… The sludge rose up, reshaping and taking a colossal form, that of a massive skeletally thin persona of a mysterious Dragon. With a mighty roar, the dragon towered over Satellite, dripping down great drops of sludge as its crimson eyes fixed upon the Condor geoglyph.

"WHAT IS THAT?" Leo exclaimed in horror.

"That must be the King of the Underworld!" Yusei realized in shock.

"Is this the end of the world?" Trudge wondered.

"We're still here." Mina said softly. "The darkness hasn't completely taken over."

"With a beast like that, how long could it take?" Kurogasa murmured, gazing at the King with horror and a dark awe in his eyes. "How powerful can it be…?"

Luna winced as her Mark of the Dragon burned, Kuribon appearing beside her and cooing urgently. "Kuribon just told me that the King of the Underworld can't be allowed to reach the Condor geoglyph?"

"How are we supposed to stop something that big?" Leo exclaimed. Then Yusei, Jack and Akiza and Kurogasa's Marks began to shine brightly, thunder booming in the skies as crimson light descended, forming into the majestic Crimson Dragon. The dragon roared, crimson light exploding from its form to engulf them… When the light faded, they found themselves on Goodwin's island home, which had one major difference – one of the buildings had been reduced to ruins and rising from those ruins was the Stairway to the Dragon Star!

"How did we get here so fast?" Leo wondered.

"That's that temple we saw underground." Jack murmured, gazing up at the Stairway. Up above it, the Condor geoglyph burned upon the clouds. Then Rex Goodwin emerged from the shadows atop the Stairway, looking down at them from the ancient temple of the People of the Stars.

"Welcome, all of you." he greeted, calm as ever. "Congratulations for defeating the Dark Signers, although you were unable to close the Doors of the Underworld."

"Have we lost?" Yusei asked. "The world…"

"Is done for." Goodwin continued smoothly, staring across the sea to Satellite, where the King of the Underworld steadily advanced towards the Condor geoglyph. "It makes slow progress…"

"Why is that thing coming here?" Kurogasa shouted, his anger at the man for deceiving him beginning to burn.

"This is the place for the Divine Ritual." he explained. "I used the Crimson Dragon to gather the Signers in preparation for that ritual." He reached out and picked up something beside him, which he lifted up to reveal as the capsule containing Roman's severed arm and hence the Head Mark of the Dragon, which blazed brightly, prompting gasps of pain from the four Signers present as their marks burned in response.

"Your left arm… is that your arm!" Jack shouted, recalling Goodwin's mechanical arm.

"No." the man replied. "This arm was my brother Roman's."

"Why do you have it, then?" Kurogasa called up to him. Goodwin laughed and turned around, setting down the canister as the Condor mark, unmistakable in its blazing form, was revealed upon his back. "That mark… it can't be! You're a Dark Signer?"

Goodwin laughed again. "When I offered myself to it, the Doors of the Underworld were so weakened, and its power was that much greater than its brethren that it could take any vessel that has recently passed on." His muscles rippled and bulged, expanding out with such force his jacket was torn to shreds, revealing his bare skin as dark purple veins pulsed and throbbed, purple lines connecting across his form in complex geoglyph signs. Goodwin then took his mechanical arm in his right hand and ripped it off, hurling it aside as he took Roman's arm from the capsule. "With the power of a Dark Signer, I make this arm my own!" He placed it where his mechanical arm had been, and in a flare of purple fire the limb connected to the end of his own arm, all five Signers screaming in pain as the Head Mark burned brightly, prompting the same reaction from their own marks.

"What have you done?" the horrified Kurogasa shouted at Goodwin.

"I shall become the Ultimate God, wielding the power of both the Crimson Dragon and the Earthbound Immortals!" the director proclaimed. "I now possess the true might of the strongest Earthbound Immortal, Wiraqocha Rasca!" He raised his arm and the Stairway rose higher, lifting him further above the world. When it stopped rising, with the sound of grating stone an Incan altar rose before him.

"What now, you maniac?" Kurogasa called to him.

"The King of the Underworld shall be welcomed into this world!" the Dark Signer replied. "I shall offer it the souls of the Signers as sacrifice."

It was the last straw for the Haos Duelist as he shouted angrily, "You were the one who told us to defeat the Dark Signers! And we all went through our own personal Hell for it!" His eyes blazed with hate and tears fell from them. "And _now_ you just turn around and spit on our efforts by becoming what you swore as your enemy? Well, I guess it's no surprise because it should be fitting for the man who killed my parents!" Everyone around him gasped horribly, hearing the Haos duelist's declaration. "Is that why you took me in? Just to become your pawn for an artificial Signer… only to deepen when I became the real thing? _You're_ the reason my parents became Dark Signers! I was given no choice but to fight them!"

"Wait a minute. Those two Dark Signers of the Dog Mark you mentioned." Trudge said in shock.

"You're saying that your parents were Dark Signers…" Mina said in the same expression.

"Yes…"

"Oh Kurogasa…" Akiza said, feeling overwhelmingly sad for the Haos Duelist.

"And you had to fight them…" Luna added.

"And Goodwin was the cause of all this?" Yusei wondered, now getting angry for what his friend endured since his tragic event.

"That's just wrong!" Leo shouted.

"Yeah! That's low even for _you_, Goodwin!" Jack shouted to the new Dark Signer agreeing with Leo.

"What of it?" the Dark Signer scoffed. "It worked out to my advantage, didn't it? Knowing how the Marks work, I needed him to be under pressure and nothing works better than the death of one's parents… of course I lost my arm in the process, but that also worked out as well…" He held up his newly fused arm. "I now have the power of a Signer in order to perform the ritual!"

"What the heck is it?" Kurogasa snapped.

"The ritual shall be decided via a Turbo Duel." Goodwin continued. "Should my opponent prevail, the King of the Underworld shall disappear and the Doors of the Underworld shall close, though a god such as _I_ cannot _possibly_ be defeated by mere mortals."

"I accept your challenge!" Yusei shouted.

"I'll disperse of you!" Jack added.

"I'm not a Signer, but I'll do anything for those kids!" Crow swore, clenching a fist. "Like the legendary man, I'll fight back!" Goodwin smirked at that.

"And I just can't wait to break you apart after what you've done!" Kurogasa added. "I will get revenge for my parents' deaths!"

Goodwin waved a hand and his opponents' duel runners appeared, the four mounting them and in Yusei, Kurogasa's, and Crow's cases, attaching their duel disks and replacing ground decks with turbo decks. Goodwin took a deck from his mechanical arm's disk and slotted it into the altar, which automatically shuffled the cards.

"Very well, but first, a couple of ground rules. As you outnumber me four to one, I will start with quadruple the regular Life Point score and no one may declare an attack on the first turn." Goodwin announced. His opponents all nodded their agreement and the Condor geoglyph angled downwards, allowing them to ride their duel runners right onto it before it realigned with the Stairway.

"Let's do this!" Crow shouted.

"FI-RUDO MAHO! SUPIDO WARUDO! SETTO ON!" Yusei, Jack, Crow, and Kurogasa shouted in unison. The four of them activated Duel Mode on their Runners, while Goodwin took a physical copy of Speed World and placed it into an appropriate slot on the altar, which seemed to be serving as his duel disk. The purple aura coated the world around them.

"RIDING DUEL, ACCELERATION!"

**Yusei:** 4000/**SPC:** 0  
**Jack:** 4000/**SPC:** 0  
**Crow:** 4000/**SPC:** 0  
**Kurogasa:** 4000/**SPC:** 0

**Goodwin:** 16000/**SPC:** 0

"I'll start! Ore no ta-n!" Crow declared, drawing his sixth card. "I summon Blackwing – Mistral the Silver Shield!" He announced, bringing out his silver faced Blackwing monster from his hand. (2/100/1800) "And next, since a Blackwing's on the field, I can Special Summon Blackwing – Bora the Spear from my hand!" He continued, as the spear-wielding Blackwing appeared next. (4/1700/1000) "And then, I'll end my turn with one card facedown!"

"And then, it's my move! Ore no taa-n!" Jack shouted, drawing his next card.

**Yusei's SPC:** 1  
**Jack's SPC:** 1  
**Crow's SPC:** 1  
**Kurogasa's SPC:** 1

**Goodwin's SPC:** 1

"I summon Mad Archfiend!" He announced, bringing out the wild-haired fiend monsters flying beside him. (4/1800/0) "I then place one card facedown to end my turn."

"And then, I go! Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa shouted with anger, drawing his sixth card.

**Yusei's SPC:** 2  
**Jack's SPC:** 2  
**Crow's SPC:** 2  
**Kurogasa's SPC:** 2

**Goodwin's SPC:** 2

"With two Speed Counters, I activate the Speed Spell-Count Up!" The Haos duelist continued, practically slamming the card within the card tray. "I send my Slip Stream to the graveyard, so I gain two more Speed Counters!" With that Kurogasa sped up past the others, taking point.

**Kurogasa's SPC:** 4

"Now, I use the Speed Spell – Summon Speeder and bring out Haos Monarus!" He announced, bringing out his white and golden fairy tuner monster to the sky. (3/1000/1200) "Since you have 5 cards in hand, I gain 500 life points for every card in your hand, Goodwin!" The Condor Dark Signer paid it no mind as his five cards glowed with Monarus, increasing the Body Signer's life points.

**Kurogasa:** 6500/**SPC:** 4

"He _really is_ mad, but I can't blame him." Leo stated.

"Yeah, the person who took care of him and gave him a home was also the one who took everything he held dear." Luna added. "He has to be hurting inside…"

"Now, I summon my Haos Manion!" Kurogasa continued, bringing out his white and golden Sphinx. (3/1350/1000) "Now, I tune Level 3 Haos Manion with Level Haos Monarus!" He shouted as Monarus turned into 3 green rings and Siege turned into 3 stars. The stars lined up in the tunnel of rings.

"_Ten no houshakou ha, kurayami no ue ni kagayaki, subete no eien no tame ni sore o fusshoku suru! Shinkuro Shoukan! Migaki ni, Haos Ancient Nemus!"_

A beam of light shot out of the rings and the male angelic warrior with a staff appeared in defense mode (6/2400/2000). "And I activate Nemus's special ability! Once per turn, I can bring back a monster from my graveyard, so I bring back my Haos Manion! Go, Divine Light!" Nemus shined his staff on the ground and sure enough the large Sphinx returned. (3/1350/1000) "Next, I place one card facedown and end my turn!"

"Emptying your hand on the first turn? Not exactly the best move." Goodwin taunted, to which Kurogasa growled. "But if you would like to die and join your parents in the Netherworld, I'd be happy to oblige later!"

"Enough of this! Ore no ta-n!" Yusei shouted, drawing his sixth card.

**Yusei's SPC:** 3  
**Jack's SPC:** 3  
**Crow's SPC:** 3  
**Kurogasa's SPC:** 5

**Goodwin's SPC:** 3

"I summon my Max Warrior!" the Tail Signer announced, bringing out his armored warrior wielding the two-pronged trident. (4/1800/800) "And then I place one card facedown to end my turn!" He concluded as the facedown card appeared on the track before vanishing. But before Goodwin took his turn, the Satellite wanted to ask something. "Why did you become a Dark Signer, Goodwin?"

The Dark Signer regarded the question for a moment, remembering:

_He remembered his Duel with Roman, how the final blow had been struck by Earthbound Immortal Uru. Three Trap Cards fell from his hand to the floor, Roman seeing them and gasping in shock because using those cards could have won him the duel._

"_You wanted to lose…" he realized, grabbing his brother by the shoulders. "Why?" _

"_I wanted to be like you." Rex replied. "You can't win against Yusei… our fates won't change. In another five-thousand years, those sharing the same fate will appear, use this world as the battleground for their Gods and eventually die. It's my destiny to break this chain… I must do so by using what you could not withstand – I will become a God and overcome fate. I must first die and wish earnestly, then take the arm you left me and use it as my own… possessing two Gods like you once did…"_

"I will use the power of the King of the Underworld to destroy this earth, and the power of the Crimson Dragon to rebuild it! I will create the world!" he declared.

"Don't joke around!" Kurogasa retorted.

"Your selfish desires have torn apart the lives of people from Satellite, like Martha and the kids!" Crow accused.

"I won't let you do as you like with your delusions!" Jack swore.

"You're mistaken!" Yusei continued. "It isn't God's power that tears down destiny; it's what everyone creates by gathering and fighting together!"

"And what is it you're gathering to fight for?" Goodwin replied.

"The bonds between our friends!"

The Dark Signer merely smirked, drawing his sixth card.

**Yusei's SPC:** 4  
**Jack's SPC:** 4  
**Crow's SPC:** 4  
**Kurogasa's SPC:** 6

**Goodwin's SPC:** 4

"Because you control monsters and I do not, I can Special Summon Oracle of the Sun from my hand." the Condor Dark Signer said, playing the card. In a flare of radiance, a tall Incan priest appeared, clad in ornate robes and wielding a staff crowned with white feathers (5/1000/2000). "I now Normal Summon Fire Ant Ascator!" A large dark crimson ant appeared with a click of mandibles (3/700/1300). "Now I Tune the Level Three Fire Ant Ascator, to the Level Five Oracle of the Sun, to Synchro Summon…!"

"A Synchro Summon?" Trudge exclaimed. "Or a Dark Signer Synchro Summoning?"

"It must be this whole two Gods thing of his…" Akiza murmured. "He controls positive _and_ negative…"

Fire Ant Ascator rose upwards, dissolving into three Synchro Gates that encircled Oracle of the Sun, who closed his eyes before breaking into five glowing stars that aligned and lit up like the light of the sun itself…

"_Taiyou nobarishi toki, subete no yami wo terashidasu. Furisosoge hikari yo! Shinkuro Shoukan! Ideyo, Taiyouryuu Inti!"_ (1)

From the veritable supernova of light descended a colossal being, consisting of an immense golden sun-face idol, from which extended four serpentine dragon heads on necks, each placed on a compass point around the idol's circumference, pale green, orange and red in color. Inti gave a roar as it hovered beside Goodwin (8/3000/2800).

"I now pay 1000 Life Points to Special Summon Dark Tuner – Black Goddess Witaka from my hand!" Goodwin continued. He glowed with crimson aura…

**Goodwin:** 15000/**SPC:** 4

Then an eerie monster appeared, a black and gold idol in the shape of a fiendish woman with a silver-masked face and blood-red eyes (3/0/0).

"By the effect of Black Goddess Witaka, I select a Synchro Monster on the field and her Level becomes equal to that monster's. I select Sun Dragon Inti!" the Dark Signer said. Black Goddess Witaka glowed with energy in sync with Inti (3-8/0/0). "And, by removing a Tuner in my Graveyard from play," he pocketed Fire Ant Ascator, "I Special Summon Weeping Idol from my hand." A crude stone statue of an Incan warrior wielding twin clubs appeared, its eyes painted blood-red (2/0/300).

"Now I Dark Tune my Level Eight Black Goddess Witaka, to my Level Two Weeping Idol, to Dark Synchro Summon…!" Black Goddess Witaka fractured and shattered into eight glowing stars that surrounded Weeping Idol and impaled into it, reducing it to a framework as the darkness poured forth, the framework shattering into two more stars. Four of the stars collided and shattered, the six remaining bursting from the darkness pitch-black. They orbited the Dark Synchro Summon as dark lightning connected them to it…

"_Kurayami no michi ga hiraka reru to, zetsubō no koe o kiku koto ga dekiru! Shini naru! Daaku Shinkuro! Ideyo, Tsukikageryuu Kuira!"_ (2)

Another monster appeared, similar in form to Sun Dragon Inti, but in place of the golden sun, this creature had an icy-blue moon-face idol for its core, and the face was cracked and deformed. The four dragon heads that extended from its edges were likewise darker and colder in color. Quilla gave a mighty roar as it hovered beside Goodwin (-6/2500/200).

"I end my turn with two cards facedown, and thus Moon Dragon Quilla's effect activates, destroying it." Goodwin concluded as he inserted two facedown cards while, Quilla sank down into the black clouds below the geoglyph and vanished from sight.

"Is this all a part of your plan?" Crow wondered. "I don't know about God or fate, but I do know that I will surpass them like the legendary man!"

"That man lost his left arm!" Goodwin laughed.

"What are you talking about?" Crow exclaimed. When Goodwin refused to answer, he shrugged it off. "Ore no ta-n!" Crow declared and drew his next card.

**Yusei's SPC:** 5  
**Jack's SPC:** 5  
**Crow's SPC:** 5  
**Kurogasa's SPC:** 7

**Goodwin's SPC:** 5

"I activate the Speed Spell – Tune Up 123!" The Blackwing duelist announced, as electronic die appeared on his screen. "This die here is going to roll. If it lands on 1 or 2, one monster on my field gains 1 level. 3 or 4 for 2 levels, or 5 and 6 for 3 levels." He explained. The die rolled, and then a 2 appeared on the die. "Alright, a two, so Mistral's level goes up by one!" Soon, Mistral the Sliver Shield glowed with energy (LV. 2-3). "And then I'll tune my Silver Shield to my Bora the Spear to Synchro Summon…!" Crow yelled out.

Mistral the Silver shield dissolved into 3 green rings ad Bora jumped through them and dissolved into 4 glowing stars…

"_Kuroki senpuu yo, tenkuu he kakeagaru tsubasa tonare! Shinkuro Shoukan! Burakkufezaa - Aamaado Wingu!"_

Then, a large hulking birdlike creature dressed completely in metal armor with one eye on its face with orange streaks on its black armor with large wings appeared next to Crow (7/2500/2000). "And then since I already have a Blackwing out on my field, I can special summon Blackwing - Elphin the Raven directly from my hand!" Crow continued as he brought out a half-man, half-black bird to field, stretching out his long wings. (6/2200/1800) "Now, Armor Master will attack your Sun Dragon Inti!" The Armor Master spun like a hurricane and then delivered a huge punch to the Sun Dragon. It pulled away, and a small wedge was locked in the Dragon's face.

"What's this?" Goodwin asked, looking at the wedge.

"You see, my Armor Master can leave these nifty little things called Wedge Counters." Crow smirked. "Now by removing it from the field, you're monster's attack and defense scores become zero for the turn!"

Once the wedge counter shattered, Inti's entire face cracked up! (8/3000-0/2800-0)

"Now, Elphin the Raven attacks your weakened monster!" He followed up as Elphin soared up towards the broken Synchro Monster and crushed it with one punch.

**Yusei:** 4000/**SPC:** 5  
**Jack:** 4000/**SPC:** 5  
**Crow:** 4000/**SPC:** 5  
**Kurogasa:** 6500/**SPC:** 7

**Goodwin:** 12800/**SPC:** 3

"Sorry Crow, but attacking the sun is unforgiveable. There is a harsh punishment to destroying this dragon!" the self-proclaimed God said. "Because it was destroyed in battle and sent to the Graveyard, the monster that destroyed it is in turn destroyed and you take damage equal to that monster's attack points!"

"What?" Crow exclaimed, a second before solar flame consumed Elphin and burned into him, tearing a cry of pain from him.

**Yusei:** 4000/**SPC:** 5  
**Jack:** 4000/**SPC:** 5  
**Crow:** 1800/**SPC:** 3  
**Kurogasa:** 6500/**SPC:** 7

**Goodwin:** 12800/**SPC:** 3

"Finally, because Inti was destroyed, an effect triggers from the Graveyard, Special Summoning Quilla to the field. Return, Moon Dragon Quilla in defense mode!" Goodwin boasted. Quilla rose out of the clouds, its four dragon heads looking very angry indeed. (-6/2500/2000)

"The legendary man failed." Goodwin said, "He couldn't go against destiny because he was a normal, useless human. In order to change fate, one must surpass humans and become a God! I am the legendary man!"

"No!" Crow shouted defiantly. At that, Goodwin raised his arm and all five other Signers cried out as their marks flashed with blazing light and vanished, reappearing together as the Crimson Dragon seal upon their foe's chest.

"I am the Ultimate God!" Goodwin proclaimed.

"He's got all of our marks!" Yusei shouted.

"But how did he do it?" Kurogasa gasped.

"I, a once-ordinary man, am now an Ultimate God through the power of the Crimson Dragon and Earthbound Immortals!" Goodwin laughed.

"It's still my turn Goodwin!" Crow shouted as he took two cards from his hand and inserted them into his runner, letting them appear on the track before vanishing. "Now I place 2 cards face down and end my turn!"

Jack then sped ahead and declared to the self-proclaimed God, "I don't know how you're doing this, but it's going to end right now! I don't know much about bonds, but I can surpass them! Ore no taa-n!" he yelled out, drawing his next card.

**Yusei's SPC:** 6  
**Jack's SPC:** 6  
**Crow's SPC:** 4  
**Kurogasa's SPC:** 8

**Goodwin's SPC:** 4

"I summon my Magic Hole Golem to the field in defense mode!" Jack announced, bringing out a large, rocky portal with cool markings appeared in front of Jack's Mad Archfiend (3/0/2000). "Now for its effect: By halving my Mad Archfiend's attack points, it's about to slam into your life points, Goodwin!" He explained as Mad Archfiend leapt at the Golem and jumped through it. (4/1800-900/0) Giant bones shot from the mouth on its chest and Goodwin braced himself as the bones splattered over his body.

**Yusei:** 4000/**SPC:** 6  
**Jack:** 4000/**SPC:** 6  
**Crow:** 1800/**SPC:** 4  
**Kurogasa:** 6500/**SPC:** 8

**Goodwin:** 11900/**SPC:** 4

Crow zoomed ahead and exclaimed. "You can't break our bonds that easily Jack! Now I play my trap! Shadow Dance! When this trap card is activated, when you take damage from a direct attack, you lose another 1000 life points, Goodwin!" He explained as his card flipped up and created a black shadow. Goodwin screamed as it charged right into its chest.

**Yusei:** 4000/**SPC:** 6  
**Jack:** 4000/**SPC:** 6  
**Crow:** 1800/**SPC:** 4  
**Kurogasa:** 6500/**SPC:** 8

**Goodwin:** 10900/**SPC:** 3

"Finally, I activate Rising Rush which lets me summon my tuner monster, Junk Synchron!" Yusei included, bringing out the orange plate-armored tuner, ready to pull its ripcord. (3/1300/500)

"I'll end my turn with that." Jack finished.

"Enough with defending, time for the attacks! Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa yelled drawing his next card.

**Yusei's SPC:** 7  
**Jack's SPC:** 7  
**Crow's SPC:** 5  
**Kurogasa's SPC:** 9

**Goodwin's SPC:** 4

"I activate Ancient Nemus's effect!" He announced, "Haos Monarus, come back!" He declared as the fairy tuner monster came back. (3/1300/1100) "Next, I activate the Speed Spell – Dash Pilfer! Since your Dark Synchro's in defense mode, I can take control of it until the end of the turn!" Goodwin gasped as Moon Dragon Quilla floated from his side and over to Kurogasa's, racing beside him.

"You'll pay for that insult!" the Dark Signer declared.

"Sooo scared…" the Haos duelist scoffed as he switched Moon Dragon Quilla into attack mode. "Hope you like four attacks coming at you in sync!"

"That's going to be 7550 points of damage!" Akiza exclaimed. "Goodwin will be nearly done and Yusei can finish it!"

"This is for my family, Goodwin! This is for robbing ten years of my childhood!" Kurogasa shouted. "Everyone, attack with all your might!" He announced as Nemus, Monarus, and Manion couldn't wait and flew towards the Self-proclaimed God and each dealt him a nasty blow, leaving Goodwin hunching over his dueling field.

**Yusei:** 4000/**SPC:** 7  
**Jack:** 4000/**SPC:** 7  
**Crow:** 1800/**SPC:** 5  
**Kurogasa:** 6500/**SPC:** 9

**Goodwin:** 5850/**SPC:** 0

"Alright!" Crow cheered.

"Give him another!" Leo exclaimed.

"Moon Dragon Quilla, your turn!" Kurogasa announced. "Show Goodwin his own power!" The Dark Synchro Monster obeyed without protest as it charged straight at her Master with full force.

Goodwin laughed, "Foolish mistake, my adopted son!" He then flipped over his facedown card. "I activate Dimension Wall! This will make the damage of this attack go straight to you! Consider this a 'thank you' for being my first pawn!" Quilla launched a dark blue beam from the dragons' mouths only to be sucked through a dimensional rip that appeared in front of the self-Proclaimed God, and then another appeared behind Kurogasa, taking the blast with a painful scream.

"Kurogasa!" Akiza cried.

**Yusei:** 4000/**SPC:** 7  
**Jack:** 4000/**SPC:** 7  
**Crow:** 1800/**SPC:** 5  
**Kurogasa:** 4000/**SPC:** 7

**Goodwin:** 5850/**SPC:** 0

The Haos duelist steadied himself on his runner and declared, "I end my turn…" With that Moon Dragon Quilla floated back to Goodwin.

"Ore no ta-n!" Yusei shouted, drawing his next card.

**Yusei's SPC:** 8  
**Jack's SPC:** 8  
**Crow's SPC:** 6  
**Kurogasa's SPC:** 8

**Goodwin's SPC:** 1

"I now tune Level 4 Max Warrior with Level 3 Junk Synchron!" He announced, as Junk Synchron pulled the ripcord and became 3 glowing rings and surrounded Max Warrior who became four glowing stars.

"_Tsudoishi sakebi ga, kodama no yatonari kuu wo saku! Hikari sasu michi tonare! Shinkuro Shoukan! Ideyo, Jyanku Āchā!"_ (3)

Then, a streamlined Synchro with orange armor and holding a silver crossbow appeared. It held it up and soared above Yusei and his runner. (7/2300/2000) "Next up, I activate Junk Archer's special ability! This lets me remove your monster from play until the end of the turn!" he explained. "DIMENSION SHOOT!" Junk Archer pulled back its crossbow and then fired the arrow, causing another dimensional rip to appear and suck in the Dark Synchro Monster. "Now Junk Archer, attack Goodwin directly!" He continued as Junk Archer fired off another arrow, ready pierce Goodwin through the heart.

"I activate my other trap card… Go, Offerings to the Immortals!" Goodwin yelled as his face down card flipped up. "When I'm directly attacked, the attack is cancelled!" The arrow disintegrated before it reached him. "Even better for me, now that your attack is called off, and I can summon 2 Ceremonial Stone Tokens!" Next, two large statues appeared before him. (1/0/0) x2 "And finally…I can add a card to my hand with the words, Earthbound Immortal in its name." He concluded as he held up a card.

Crow gasped. "Summoning tokens and adding an Earthbound Immortal to his hand? You're cheating!"

Goodwin laughed. "That is the power of God; your bonds are useless!"

"Get over yourself!" Kurogasa shouted. "Our bonds cannot be broken by anything! We'll keep watching others' backs!"

"How would you know when your parents are dead?" the Dark Signer retorted. "You have no family!"

"These guys dueling along with me and the people watching from below are family as well!" the Haos duelist shouted back. "And even though they are gone, my parents' bonds still live on! Don't talk about things you can't understand!"

"Right!" Yusei encouraged, inserting two of his facedown cards inside his runner. "I place two facedowns to end my turn!" Soon, Moon Dragon Quilla returned to the field. (-6/2500/2000)

Goodwin silently drew his card with a wicked grin.

**Yusei's SPC:** 9  
**Jack's SPC:** 9  
**Crow's SPC:** 7  
**Kurogasa's SPC:** 9

**Goodwin's SPC:** 2

"Now, I release my two Ceremonial Stone Tokens to Advance Summon…" he declared. The two monsters faded into rainbow light that soared upwards and became the heart of an Earthbound Immortal, which began to beat as all around, those within the geoglyph not under the Signer's protection faded into purple soul-lights and were absorbed into the heart. The heart then exploded into a pillar of purple fire…

"_Kyuukyoku no hakai wo motarase! Saikyou no Jibakushin! Ideyo! Wirakocha Rasuka!"_ (4)

The flames broke as gigantic wings spread, highlighted with purple geoglyph sigils. A deathly shriek resounded, shaking the ground as the Condor launched into the skies, hanging over the two like the shadow of Death itself, its immense talons seeming to reach out to crush every last drop of life of its opponents. The skeletally thin body of the Condor drew everyone's attention in a horrifying way, and its dull, grey, dead eyes pierced into his soul like a lance as the Earthbound Immortal shrieked again. (10/1/1)

"The strongest Earthbound Immortal… has one attack point?" Jack said incredulously, unable to hide his scorn.

"Of course, Jack!" Goodwin laughed. "So like you to admire only the physical power of a creature, and not pay attention to its effect. By forfeiting my Battle Phase, Earthbound Immortal Wiraqocha Rasca can reduce an opponent's Life Points to one!" He gave a laugh of pure triumph as the King of the Underworld roared, unleashing a massive flock of smaller black condors from its form towards them as it slowly made its way through the ocean towards the geoglyph.

One of the condors swooped down towards Kurogasa, but was suddenly impaled on a black thorny tail, shattering into shadows as Black Rose Dragon roared, accompanied by Ancient Fairy Dragon. The blue mystical dragon sang a soothing melody that parted the clouds and sent beams of sunlight down to sear through the black condors, which screamed in agony as the holy light burned through them.

"Go, Yusei!" Leo, Mina and Trudge called up. "Go, Jack! Go, Crow! Go! Kurogasa!"

"Why fight when your fate is sealed?" Goodwin taunted.

"We make our own fate!" Yusei stated.

"As did I, but now that I have the power etched into my very being, I can control yours!" the Dark Signer shouted, "And to prove it, I activate Wiraqocha Rasca's effect, and I target… Yusei!" Goodwin declared. "Polestar Obey!" With a mighty roar, the condor's beak opened…

"I looked up to the man from Daedalus Bridge!" Crow shouted, taking the lead ahead of Yusei and Jack. "He taught us to be strong, and to never give up!" One of the condors slipped past Black Rose Dragon's guard and smashed against Blackbird, but Crow barely noticed the impact, and as the bird swooped up, it was impaled by a beam of sunlight from Ancient Fairy Dragon. "I'll protect Yusei's wish! I activate the Trap Card, Life Exchange, redirecting your Immortal's effect damage to me!"

Drawn by the Trap Card, Wiraqocha Rasca roared and unleashed a torrent of hellish purple flame from its maw towards Crow instead.

Yusei gasped. "NO!"

"Crow, you're nuts!" Jack warned.

"Get out of there!" Kurogasa told him.

"So be it Crow! Wiraqocha Rasca, make Crow's life points 1!" Goodwin yelled.

At the same moment, a condor shadow struck the edge of Crow's duel runner! As he started to spin out, the blast that the mighty Earthbound Immortal struck with the flames, burning into the Blackwing duelist and made his runner drop off the track.

**Yusei:** 4000/**SPC:** 9  
**Jack:** 4000/**SPC:** 9  
**Crow:** 1/**SPC:** 7  
**Kurogasa:** 4000/**SPC:** 9

**Goodwin:** 5850/**SPC:** 2

"CROW!" Kurogasa, Yusei, and Jack yelled up to him.

"I'm fine!" He yelled as he began to fall, and continued to play, "I activate the trap, Blackwing – Bombardment and sacrifice my Blackwing Armor Master to do so!" His Armor Master turned into energy and it was sucked into the trap card. Crow's runner steadied off as wings unfolded from it. "I'll soar like the legendary man did! I play the other effect of Life Exchange! Since I lost life points, I can destroy one monster on the field!" He explained. "I can't affect an Earthbound Immortal with it, so I'll destroy Quilla!" Crow's runner put out some jet fuel, and then suddenly soared through the sky!

'_Go get him, Crow…'_ Kurogasa thought.

"Take this!" Crow yelled as his runner crashed right through it. Goodwin groaned as the Moon Dragon shattered into pixels, while his foe flew towards the track.

"All for naught…" Goodwin smirked. "When the moon sets, the sun rises…" Everyone gasped as they saw Sun Dragon Inti descended back on the field. (8/3000/2800)

"NO!" Jack yelled. Crow ended up descending towards the track so quick that when he tried to land perfectly, the runner crashed instead.

"CROW!" Yusei yelled.

"Is he okay?" Kurogasa asked alarmingly.

Crow tumbled off his runner as the wing snapped off. He looked through his cracked visor. Crow observed the screen of his duel runner. It still read that his field was there with 1 life point left.

"Our bonds…haven't been broken yet…" Crow whispered as he fell to unconsciousness.

"CROOOOOWWW!" Yusei yelled as they still drove forward.

"Goodwin! You bastard!" Jack yelled. "I won't stand for this!"

"It was his own fault." Goodwin shrugged as he set a card facedown. "However, you can still use his cards… does that make you feel better?"

Jack angrily whipped off a card. "Ore no taa-n!"

**Yusei's SPC:** 10  
**Jack's SPC:** 10  
**Kurogasa's SPC:** 10

**Goodwin's SPC:** 3

"I summon Sinister Sprocket!" He yelled, bringing out his dark sprocket, extending its metal coil. (1/400/0) "And now I tune my Sinister Sprocket to my mad Archfiend and my Magic Hole Golem to Synchro Summon!"

Soon, Sinister Sprocket transformed into a Synchro Gate and surrounded the other two monsters and became 7 glowing stars.

"_Ouja no kodou, ima kokoni retsu wo nasu! Tenchi meidou no chikara wo mirugaii! Shinkuro Shoukan! Waga tamashii! Reddo Dēmonzu Doragon!"_

In a blast of dark flames, the fiendish Signer dragon appeared (8/3000/2000) "Then I activate the Trap Card, Half Straight!" Jack countered. "This halves the attack points of one of my monsters, and so long as that monster's points are less than your strongest monster's, it can attack directly!" Red Dragon Archfiend glowed with crimson aura (8/3000-1500/2000). "Red Dragon Archfiend, attack him directly with Scorching Crimson Flare!"

"I activate the effect of Sun Dragon Inti, reducing its attack points to zero until my next Standby Phase!" Goodwin shouted. Inti glowed with crimson light (8/3000-0/2000). "Now you have no choice but to attack Inti!"

"I won't let you!" Yusei yelled, as his face-down lifted up. "I activate the Continuous Trap Card, Scrubbed Raid! Through the effect of Scrubbed Raid, a card on the player's field can be sent to the Graveyard to end the Battle Phase! Use it, Jack!"

"Take the path of a true King!" Goodwin declared.

"Don't listen to him!" Kurogasa shouted.

Jack remembered the past, how he had betrayed his friends… and then Carly appeared in his mind as he declared his next move as the Dark Signer kept goading him...

"Eliminate Yusei and Kurogasa!" the Dark Signer ordered.

"I won't!" Jack shouted. "Red Dragon Archfiend, attack Sun Dragon Inti!" The dragon unleashed a blast of hellish power that shattered the solar dragon, before smashing down into Goodwin.

**Yusei:** 4000/**SPC:** 10  
**Jack:** 4000/**SPC:** 10  
**Kurogasa:** 4000/**SPC:** 10

**Goodwin:** 4350/**SPC:** 2

Soon, the dying flames of Inti consumed Red Dragon Archfiend, making it explode and damage Jack in the process.

**Yusei:** 4000/**SPC:** 10  
**Jack:** 2500/**SPC:** 9  
**Kurogasa:** 4000/**SPC:** 10

**Goodwin:** 4350/**SPC:** 2

And then Moon Dragon Quilla returned as well. (-6/2500/2000)

"I end my turn with a facedown card!" Jack snarled.

"Why didn't you do as I ordered?" Goodwin asked.

Carly was still in Jack's mind as he replied. "Carly… she taught me of love, bonds and friendship… I won't betray her. No matter how much a person casts aside, people don't become lonely!"

"Well put! Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa shouted as he drew his next card.

**Yusei's SPC:** 11  
**Jack's SPC:** 10  
**Kurogasa's SPC:** 11

**Goodwin's SPC:** 3

"I summon Haos Centipoid!" He announced, bringing out his white and golden Centipoid. (2/800/1000) "Now I tune Level 3 Manion and Level 2 Centipoid with Level 3 Monarus!" Monarus turned into three green rings while encircling Manion and Centipoid, turning them into 5 stars. The stars lined up in the tunnel of rings.

"_Shinzou no tamashii ga, piasu no hikari o kensaku to yami o uchikudaku! Shinkuro Shokan! Araware o, Haos Omega Leonidas!"_

In a beam of light, Kurogasa's white and yellow colored ace dragon appeared. (8/3000/2500)

"Next, I use Leonidas's special ability to select my Haos Manion for him to gain half of its ATK!" A faint spirit of Manion appeared and fused with the dragon. (8/3500-4175/2500) "Attack Moon Dragon Quilla! Omega Eraser!" Leonidas flew up and fired a huge beam from its mouth at the Dark Synchro Monster...

"I activate Destruct Potion!" Goodwin countered, revealing his facedown card. "I destroy Moon Dragon Quilla and gain life points equal to its attack!" Before the attack landed, Quilla descended into the clouds while Goodwin was engulfed in dark light that restored some of his points.

**Yusei:** 4000/**SPC:** 11  
**Jack:** 2500/**SPC:** 10  
**Kurogasa:** 4000/**SPC:** 11

**Goodwin:** 6850/**SPC:** 3

"Now, I revive my Sun Dragon Inti!" Goodwin announced as the bright Synchro Monster appeared on the field. (8/3000/2800) "Once again, you failed yourself and your parents!"

Kurogasa scoffed and laughed, "Keep telling yourself that… I end my turn…"

The Dark Signer growled as Yusei took his turn. "Ore no ta-n!" The Satellite declared and drew his card.

**Yusei's SPC:** 12  
**Jack's SPC:** 11  
**Kurogasa's SPC:** 12

**Goodwin's SPC:** 4

"I activate Junk Archer's effect!" Yusei announced as his Synchro Monster launched another arrow that sent Inti away in another dimension. "Now Junk Archer, direct attack!" the Archer took out another arrow and launched it at Goodwin's stomach, impaling him and making him scream.

**Yusei:** 4000/**SPC:** 12  
**Jack:** 2500/**SPC:** 11  
**Kurogasa:** 4000/**SPC:** 12

**Goodwin:** 4550/**SPC:** 2

"And then, I end my turn." He concluded as Inti returned to the field. (8/3000/2800)

The King of the Underworld continued to attack with its condor minions, but Black Rose Dragon and Ancient Fairy Dragon fought the demonic birds off, destroying them with thorns and sunlight.

"The King of the Underworld fast approaches!" Goodwin laughed. "Once it reaches the Stairway to the Dragon Star, the Signers will be sacrificed and darkness shall reign! But first, you must take some destruction!"

"No matter what, we will keep fighting!" Yusei retorted.

"I agree!" Jack added. "We won't give up!"

"And we will save everyone!" Kurogasa shouted.

"Good luck!" Goodwin taunted drawing his next card.

**Yusei's SPC:** 12  
**Jack's SPC:** 12  
**Kurogasa's SPC:** 12

**Goodwin's SPC:** 3

"I activate the Trap Card, Fiendish Chain, negating Inti's effects and preventing it from attacking!" Jack countered. Shadowy chains burst from mid-air, wrapping around Quilla and prompting a roar of fury from the Sun Dragon.

"'No matter how much a person casts aside, people don't become lonely.'" Goodwin said mockingly. "People fall into loneliness easily, and loneliness is death! Look at Kurogasa, he thought had me as a father figure after his parents died, but now he's so sorrowful and alone…"

"Not any longer!" Kurogasa countered. "I've lost the two people I cared about the most, true, but now I've realized… with my friends by my side, I'm not alone!"

"Before death, a person thinks not about their friends or themselves, much less about bonds, and it's an obvious thing since they fall into death alone." Goodwin continued regardless.

"That's not true!" the Haos shouted at him. "I died on the inside when my parents did, but later on I knew wasn't alone when I fell into my own personal darkness! My parents were there with me, by my side! You may think that death brings loneliness… but beyond the border of life, how many souls are there, Goodwin? How many people lost to us dwell there…?"

"No matter what foolishness you believe, you cannot deny the truth – all are alone when death embraces them!" Goodwin proclaimed. "Jack…I'll make you what you once were, an almighty King, by restoring your feelings of loneliness and despair! I activate the effect of my Earthbound Immortal, reducing your Life Points to one! Polestar Obey!" Wiraqocha Rasca gave an almighty roar, unleashing a blast of purple fire from its maw that crashed down onto Jack with incredible force, the Signer screaming in agony as he was consumed by the inferno.

**Yusei:** 4000/**SPC:** 12  
**Jack:** 1/**SPC:** 1  
**Kurogasa:** 4000/**SPC:** 12

**Goodwin:** 4550/**SPC:** 3

"Look at and feel the death before your eyes!" Goodwin laughed. "King of the Underworld, sacrifice him!" The King roared and a blast of violet power ripped from its maw, shooting across the sea to slam onto the geoglyph, striking the Wheel of Fortune and exploding in a flare of incredible energy. "Do you feel death and despair?"

"I feel despair and loneliness…" Jack replied, "But only because death isn't before them." His Duel Runner was sent hurling aside by the power of the King of the Underworld's attack. "Yusei, Kurogasa… even though my Runner isn't beside the two of you, my feelings are!"

"That's right!" Crow called out. "Our Life Points may be one, but our feelings are at ten-thousand!"

"We got ya!" Kurogasa shouted back to them.

"Right!" Yusei added.

"Foolishness!" Goodwin stated, inserting his next card. "I end my turn with a facedown!"

"Ore no ta-n!" Kurogasa shouted, drawing his next card.

**Yusei's SPC:** 12  
**Kurogasa's SPC:** 12

**Goodwin's SPC:** 4

"I activate the effect of Ancient Nemus! So I bring back my Haos Manion! Divine Light!" Kurogasa said as Nemus used its staff to bring it back, but it was all for naught when…

"Not so fast, I activate my trap, Passion of Baimasse! It negates your Monster's Effect and destroys it!" Goodwin countered. The light faded from Nemus's staff and Nemus was destroyed into pixels.

"Ha! You fell for it! Nemus was just a decoy so I can use Leonidas's effect, which I will capitalize on having Leonidas take half of Nemus's ATK!" A faint image of Nemus appeared and was absorbed into Leonidas (8/3000-4200/2500). "Now Leonidas attack his Sun Dragon Inti with Omega Eraser!" Leonidas flew up and fired a huge laser into the Sun Dragon destroying it into pixels.

**Yusei:** 4000/**SPC:** 12  
**Kurogasa:** 4000/**SPC:** 12

**Goodwin:** 3250/**SPC:** 2

"Fool! You do realize what happens when Sun Dragon Inti is destroyed!" Goodwin yelled as an aura of fire from the remains of Inti surrounded Leonidas.

"That's why I have this! I activate the trap, Hallowed Life Barrier! I discard one card from my hand and on this turn, any damage I take from my opponent's cards and effects becomes 0!"

"What?" Goodwin growled as Kurogasa discarded a card and three women clothed in blue robes surrounded Leonidas and formed a barrier all around it protecting Leonidas from the fiery aura. Moon Dragon Quilla then returned to the field (-6/2500/2000).

"Nice Kurogasa!" Yusei complimented.

"And I'll end my turn with that!" Kurogasa finished.

"Ore no ta-n!" Yusei declared and drew his card.

**Yusei's SPC:** 12  
**Kurogasa's SPC:** 12

**Goodwin's SPC:** 3

"I activate Junk Archer's effect! DIMENSION SHOOT!" Yusei declared as Junk Archer fired an arrow at Quilla and sent it to another dimension.

"Now I play the Speed Spell – Angel Baton! If I have two or more Speed Counters, I can draw two cards, then I discard one from my hand!" Yusei did as the card instructed. "Now I summon my Turbo Synchron!" the small green man-machine like turbo engine appeared (1/100/500).

"With that, he can Synchro Summon his Stardust Dragon!" Leo cheered.

"I tune my Level 7 Junk Archer with my Level 1 Turbo Synchron!" Yusei shouted. The green man-machine like turbo engine turned into a Synchro Gate as Junk Archer turned into 7 stars and lined up in the ring.

"_Tsudoishi negai ga, aratana kagayaku hoshi to naru! Hikari sasu michi to nare! Shinkuro Shoukan! Hishouseyo, Sutadasuto Doragon!"_

A beam of light shot out of the ring and Yusei's ace dragon appeared with stardust streaming out of its wings (8/2500/2000). "And now since I Synchro Summoned Stardust Dragon, I can Special Summon my Stardust Xialong from my Graveyard thanks to discarding with Angel Baton!" The small Chinese dragon with the crest of Stardust Dragon appeared (1/100/100). "Now Stardust Dragon and Xialong attack Goodwin's life points directly!" Yusei ordered. And with that, Stardust Dragon fired a stardust beam from its mouth while Xialong tackled Goodwin making the latter grunt in pain.

**Yusei:** 4000/**SPC:** 12  
**Kurogasa:** 4000/**SPC:** 12

**Goodwin:** 650/**SPC:** 1

"Yeah! Go Yusei! Go Kurogasa!" Leo cheered.

"Nice, we could end this thing right now!" Trudge grinned.

"You insolent peons! You will pay for your treachery!" Goodwin snarled.

"I wouldn't count on it! I place a facedown and end my turn!" Yusei declared placing a reverse on the field. Quilla returned from its dimensional prison.

"It's almost over Goodwin! Soon my parents will be avenged and you _will_ pay!"

"We'll see about that! I draw!" Goodwin declared and drew his card.

**Yusei's SPC:** 12  
**Kurogasa's SPC:** 12

**Goodwin's SPC:** 2

"I activate my Earthbound Immortal's effect again! And this time, I'll target you Kurogasa! Polestar Obey!" Goodwin yelled. Wiraqocha Rasca roared once again, unleashing a blast of purple fire from its maw that crashed down onto Kurogasa with tremendous force, the Signer screaming in agony as he was consumed by the inferno.

**Yusei:** 4000/**SPC:** 12  
**Kurogasa:** 1/**SPC:** 12

**Goodwin:** 650/**SPC:** 2

"KUROGASA!" Akiza cried in horror. The force was so tremendous that he and his Runner were blown off the Condor Geoglyph, just like Crow, only unlike him, he was plummeting straight for the ground.

"NOOOOOO!" Yusei cried as he continued to drive forward looking back in horror.

"Farewell my adopted son! Be reunited with your parents in the Netherworld in despair! HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Goodwin laughed evilly. As Kurogasa began to fall, he was starting to feel regret and sadness.

'_Mom… Dad… I'm sorry I couldn't avenge you. I wasn't strong enough…'_ He thought with bitter regret.

"KUROGASA!" Akiza cried. "Black Rose Dragon, save Kurogasa!" She said frantically as the Haos Duelist continued to fall. Black Rose Dragon flew over to where Kurogasa and just in the nick of time, managed to cushion his fall. Akiza and the group ran up to the Black Rose Dragon who gently put Kurogasa and his Runner and flew back up to take care of the demonic birds. Akiza ran up and knelt down at the battered up Kurogasa. His clothes have some scorch marks on it; the glass on his helmet that protected his eyes was cracked and a little bit of blood trickled down his head.

"He isn't…" Trudge didn't want to finish that sentence, fearing the worst.

"He can't be!" the Plant duelist cried, tearing up. She slowly took off his helmet, and cradled his head in her lap. "You can't die…"

"No…" the Haos duelist groaned as he shifted his body a bit. Everyone sighed with relief, seeing that he was still alive… none so more than Akiza as her tears became ones of joy. "Damn you… Goodwin…"

"Shhhh… Don't try to speak." Akiza said, gently rubbing his head to comfort him.

Kurogasa felt the tears drop on his cheek and smiled weakly, "You don't… need to cry… I'm alright…"

"No… You're not; you almost died up there…"

"But I didn't…" the Haos duelist pointed out, but sighed, "I just feel like dirt now… I couldn't stop Goodwin, like my… parents wanted…"

"You did all you could, and I know they would be proud…" Akiza whispered, hugging him.

"Wish you could've met them…" Kurogasa stated, leaning into her embrace. "You'd love 'em… they would love you… like I do…"

"I know… I feel the same way…" She replied, kissing his forehead, not minding the blood.

Trudge went over to Kurogasa's battered Runner and got it up. Luckily, the monitor is still working, so he pressed a few buttons and Yusei's face showed on the screen. "Yusei, Kurogasa's alive! He's gonna be alright! Just go kick Goodwin's ass!"

"Thank goodness…" Yusei sighed with relief. He then turned his attention back to Goodwin.

"Well, well, it seems that Kurogasa somehow survives. Now at the End Phase, I will destroy Quilla and bring back Inti!" Goodwin declared as Quilla started to disappear and Inti started to appear.

"I don't think so! I activate Stardust Dragon's effect. My dragon can negate the effects of Monster, Spell, or Trap card and destroy it! Meaning with Quilla's effect negated, Inti's not coming back! Victim Sanctuary!" Yusei countered. Yusei's ace dragon disappeared and the stardust that made the dragon disappear went to the sun and moon dragon, forcing them back to the Graveyard. "And since it's still the End Phase, my Stardust Dragon returns!" Yusei's ace dragon returned to the field (8/2500/2000).

"Pfft. No matter." Goodwin scoffed. "Once the King of the Netherworld comes here and you Signers becoming its sacrifices, you'll all be dead and I shall become the Ultimate God and surpass my own brother, Roman!" Goodwin rejoiced.

"Let me ask you something Goodwin. "Have you forgotten Roman?" Yusei asked, bringing a look of surprise to Rex's face.

"I don't understand…"

"You went against fate once at the Daedalus Bridge, but only because you wanted to reach Roman." the Signer explained. "The arm you have is Roman's!"

"It doesn't matter! The King of the Underworld grows ever-closer! So long as Jack, Crow, and Kurogasa can't continue riding, victory is mine once I defeat you!"

"But do you really want to become a God?" Yusei asked.

"I cannot become a God unless I surpass my brother!"

"You're wrong, because people have things they can never forget!" the Satellite said "It's in our hearts, and Roman is in your heart. You aren't trying to surpass fate, but go against it with Roman. Isn't that what we call a bond?"

As Goodwin gaped in shock, a mirage of the younger Roman appeared, and slowly shook his head at his brother before vanishing as Yusei's Deck began to glow. The Crimson Dragon seal upon Goodwin's chest faded away, prompting a gasp of surprise from the man as the Marks of the Dragon reappeared upon their rightful owners.

"Our birthmarks!" Luna exclaimed.

"They're returning!" Akiza said.

"Now Goodwin can't use the power of the Crimson Dragon anymore." Kurogasa said. Yusei's Tail Mark appeared, but then a few seconds later, the Tail Mark vanished from Yusei's arm and was replaced by the Head Mark.

"What? The Head Mark is on _me_?" Yusei asked surprised.

Jack's Wings Mark returned to Jack as well. "About time." Jack chuckled. And now, the Tail Mark ignited into being upon Crow's arm.

"This is…" Crow said looking at the Tail Mark.

"Why? Why isn't the Crimson Dragon lending me the power to be a God?" Goodwin roared.

"The Crimson Dragon has chosen bonds, and our bonds will surpass fate!" Yusei replied as the six marks blazed with fiery light, vanishing and reappearing upon his back as the shining seal of the Crimson Dragon. Then the top card of Yusei's deck glowed.

"YUSEI!" Everyone cried.

"Ore no... taaaa-n!" Yusei shouted and drew that card.

**Yusei's SPC:** 12

**Goodwin's SPC:** 5

"I summon Savior Dragon!" The same small, pink dragon with a curvy head, yellow eyes and small wings appeared (1/0/0).

"No…! Not that!" Goodwin gasped.

"Now I tune my level 8 Stardust Dragon and level 1 Stardust Xiaolong, with my level 1 Savior Dragon!" The monsters flew up in the air. Savior Dragon then turned transparent and grew very large as a green ring formed inside it. Leonidas turned into 8 stars and Turbo Booster into 1 star making the total 9. The nine stars lined up in the green ring inside Savior Dragon.

"_Tsudoishi hoshi no kagayaki ga, aratana kiseki wo terashidasu! Hikari sasu michi tonare! Shinkuro Shoukan! Kouraiseyo! Seivaa Suta Doragon!"_

A beam of light shot through Yusei as he was engulfed in it and then the massive crystalline dragon took flight (10/3800/3000).

As the dragon appeared, the King of the Netherworld was close to reaching the geoglyph, prompting those watching from below to move away quickly as possible while helping Kurogasa get away too. "I activate the effect of Savior Star Dragon, negating Earthbound Immortal Wiraqocha Rasca's effects!" Yusei called out. "Sublimation Drain!" The motes of azure light tore from Wiraqocha Rasca, flowed into Savior Star Dragon as the Earthbound Immortal roared in anger. "Now I activate Crow's trap, Blackwing – Bombardment, sacrificing Armor Master's ATK and giving it to Savior Star Dragon!" A faint image of Blackwing – Armor Master appeared and went in Savior Star Dragon (10/3800-6300/3000).

"And that's not all, I activate Jack's facedown as well, the Speed Spell – Final Attack! I can only activate it if I have 8 or more Speed Counters and I can double its ATK yet again!" (10/6300-12,600/3000). "And I'll double it one more time activating my last facedown! The trap, Synchro Baton! It lets Savior Star Dragon gain 600 ATK for every Synchro Monster in the Graveyard! I count five, so that's 3000 more ATK points!"  
(10/15,600/3000).

"Whoa! That's way overkill!" Leo exclaimed.

"Savior Star Dragon, attack Earthbound Immortal Wiraqocha Rasca! Reverberate! Shooting Blaster Sonic!" Yusei commanded. Savior Star Dragon folded its wings and was engulfed in light as it shot at Wiraqocha Rasca, impaling through the Condor as a spear of light that sent countless rays of its radiance tearing the Condor apart, obliterating it into a huge shadow as Yusei's dragon spread its wings once again. Goodwin on the other hand, screamed as his life points depleted.

**Yusei:** 4000/**SPC:** 12

**Goodwin:** 0/**SPC:** 0

As Savior Star Dragon turned in mid-air to face the King of the Underworld, crimson aura surrounded it, solidifying and expanding into a familiar crimson form as the Crimson Dragon erupted into the world, shooting at its nemesis and piercing into its form, as the world went white around Yusei…

When the world returned and Yusei opened his eyes, he was standing in space, he saw Kalin, Misty, Carly, Devack, Greiger and Kurogasa's parents lying unconscious in their Dark Signer robes on the ground in front of him. Then Rex and Roman in their pre-Dark Signer forms appeared, smiling at him.

"Roman, it seems we chose the wrong path." Rex commented to his brother. "And without you Yusei, we wouldn't have realized it." He said turning to the Satellite.

"Goodwin…" Yusei murmured.

"The means of fighting against fate is the human friend's bonds, and it was right there in front of me the whole time." He turned to the Dark Signers. "Take care of them, Yusei, for they now get a second chance at life. And Yusei… tell Kurogasa… that I am sorry… Sorry for all the grief I put him through." He then turned to his brother, Roman. "Let's settle this. This fate. With the bonds of us brothers." Roman nodded as a white light formed beyond the Dark Signers, and the two brothers turned to face it.

"Let's go." Roman said as they started walking towards the light.

"Wait!" Yusei shouted, but they vanished into the light as the world went black…

The Crimson Dragon exploded from the King of the Underworld, and as the fiery red dragon soared skywards, a pillar of white light from below engulfed the King, shattering it into mere shadows that were seared away by the light…

As the burning remnants of the King of the Underworld blew away into the wind, the Condor geoglyph and the Stairway to the Dragon Star itself both vanished away, the geoglyph fracturing and shattering, the Stairway then disappeared along with the geoglyph, causing Jack and Crow to fall, but were caught quickly by Savior Star Dragon as it shot down from the Crimson Dragon, which faded away. As the skies cleared and the sunrise erupted over the horizon, a rain of golden stardust fell.

"Oh wow!" The Twins said in awe looking at the golden stardust.

"We did it!" Akiza said holding Kurogasa steady with his arm around her shoulders.

"Yeah, we saved the world…" Kurogasa smiled gently.

Weeks later…

Since Goodwin's defeat, Lazar had been made temporary Director until a suitable replacement could be found. As for the rest of the former Dark Signers, Misty had become pen-pals with Akiza while keeping up her modeling career, often sending postcards to from various exotic destinations. Kalin had left with no destination mentioned to his friends, and Greiger had returned to his home in Peru. Carly still remained in New Domino, trying to write a front-page story regarding the events of the Signer-Dark Signer War, as for Devack, who knows what happened. And as for Kurogasa's mom and dad, they went to take back control of their Duel Runner company. The CFO of that company was now the CEO for the past ten years. And after those weeks have passed, Kurogasa's mom and dad got back the Duel Runner company they once ran ten years ago. Although questions of how his parents were alive and well, that story is for another time.

We now turn our attention to the new Daedalus Bridge that shone like a road of light across the sea, as two people sat atop the old bridge, which endured as a monument to Goodwin and the hope he had given Satellite as the legendary man, no matter how few people knew the truth. Kurogasa and Akiza sat at the edge of the bridge, holding each other close as they stared out towards New Domino City and seeing Yusei, Jack, and Crow take the first Turbo Duel on it.

"So the legendary man's dream finally came true." Kurogasa murmured. "His bridge _did _connect New Domino and Satellite… In the end, Goodwin saw the truth: You can't fight against fate on your own… it's the bonds between us that let us choose our own path, to make our own choices. So long as humanity has its bonds… fate will never rule us."

"It's sad that he couldn't see the bridge finished, though." Akiza said softly. Kurogasa nodded.

"Even after what he did…" He murmured. "You're right. It _is_ sad he never saw the conclusion of the hope he gave us all." He kissed her forehead. "But in the end, everything's finally turned out right… the people of Satellite aren't treated unfairly anymore, we got our families back…"

"And we have to go back to school…" the Plant duelist interrupted, making Kurogasa groan.

"I wish you didn't remind me of that…" He whined. "You just ruined the moment…" Akiza laughed.

"Sorry, but because of what we went through, we have to enroll…" She pointed out.

"Yeah, but we already know so much…" Kurogasa continued to protest. "Besides, I thought we were on a date… not worrying about back-to-school lists."

"Just saying…" Akiza replied, laying her head on his shoulder. "Think we'll always have moments like this?"

"Most definitely." He smiled softly, taking her hand and looked into her eyes, "Especially since I found my light…"

"And I've found mine…" She added, as they shared a soft and passionate kiss.

**THE END!**

WOHOO! After finally working on this story for a year and a half, this story is finished! And as I said before, there _will_ be a sequel to this! That's right, it's gonna be called: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Rise of the Meklords. And also, as I said before, Duelist of Dawn and I will be working on this thing together, so keep an eye out for the sequel and don't forget to review! I wanna thank all my readers who supported me in this story and for reading this story of course and for reviewing. And I wanna give my special thanks to Duelist of Dawn for helping me out with this story! Thank you everyone! See ya on the sequel! Raidingu Dyueru! Akuserarēshon!

(1)- When the sun arises, all darkness is dispelled! Light, shine brightly! Synchro Summon! Show yourself, Sun Dragon Inti!

(2)- When the path of darkness is opened, the voices of despair can be heard! Become death! Dark Synchro! Show yourself, Moon Dragon Quilla!

(3)- Gathering roars turn into an echoing arrow which tears through the sky! Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! Show yourself, Junk Archer!

(4)- Bring forth the ultimate destruction! The strongest Earthbound Immortal! Come forth, Wiraqocha Rasca!


End file.
